By: Daniel Vazzoler
A strong first period was all the Carleton Place Canadians needed on Friday night as three goals in the opening period propelled the Canadians to a 4-2 victory over the Hawkesbury Hawks to start the semi-finals series.
Three goals 4:33 apart in the first period, scored by Peyton Francis, Geoff Kitt and Aidan Girduckis, put the Canadians ahead 3-0 after the first period where Carleton Place outshot Hawkesbury 12-9. The Canadians dominated the second period, limiting the Hawks to a handful of shots and added to the lead with a Sam Knoblauch goal.
Michael Leach continued his strong play in the post-season as he made 22 saves on 24 shots he faced in the game. The Canadians appeared to have switched off – or try to rest up for Game Two – during the third period, when the Hawks scored a pair of goals before the end of the game.
Peter Brooks made the start for Hawkesbury, and it was a good one for him until the final six minutes of the frame.
A neutral-zone turn-over from the Hawks sent Francis in on the rush down the right-wing side. He snapped off a wrist shot from the face-off dot and beat Brooks just over the goalie’s pad on the far side.
Less than a minute later Kitt added to the lead, finding the loose puck in the slot and deposited it past Brooks for a 2-0 lead. After snapping a 15-game goalless drought in the final game of the regular season – a stretch where he put up nine points – Kitt has flipped a switch to start the playoffs as he has three goals and four assists in the six games so far.
Girduckis capped off the first-period scoring with a power play goal late in the period. He faked a slap shot from the blue-line and stepped around the Hawks forward who slid to block the fake shot. Girduckis found the lane from the high slot and his wrist shot beat Brooks over the blocker-side pad.
After the first period, Matthew Petizian replaced Brooks and allowed one goal in his 40 minutes of work.
Knoblauch beat Petizian 7:30 into the second period, finishing off an exquisite pass from Brett Thorne. Thorne knocked down the clearing attempt along the boards and snapped his pass across the slot to Knoblauch at the back post, who had a tap-in for the goal and a 4-0 lead.
Matt Gasuik scored near the middle of the third period to get the Hawks on the board before Alec Beaudin-Tougas scored in the final minute to make it a 4-2 final.
There’s not much time for rest as Game Two goes Saturday night in Hawkesbury before Game Three returns to Carleton Place Tuesday night at 7:15 p.m. The entire series is filled with back-to-back games as Game Four goes Wednesday night for the second set of games on consecutive nights and Games Five and Six are also scheduled for two games in two nights – being played Apr. 6 and Apr. 7 if needed.
Playoff Matchups Around the League
* = if necessary
BOLD = higher seed home game
Semi-finals
(1) CPC vs (4) HAW – CPC leads 1-0
GAME 1: CPC vs HAW – CPC 4-2
GAME 2: HAW vs CPC – Sat., Mar. 31 – 7:30 p.m.
GAME 3: CPC vs HAW – Tues., Apr. 3 – 7:15 p.m.
GAME 4: HAW vs CPC – Wed., Apr. 4 – 7:30 p.m.
GAME 5: CPC vs HAW – Fri., Apr. 6 – 7:45 p.m. *
GAME 6 – HAW vs CPC – Sat., Apr. 7 – 7:30 p.m. *
GAME 7 – CPC vs HAW – Mon., Apr. 9 – 7:15 p.m. *
(2) OJS vs (3) BRO – OJS leads 2-0
GAME 1: OJS vs BRO – OJS 6-1
GAME 2: BRO vs OJS – OJS 5-1
GAME 3: OJS vs BRO – Sun., Apr. 1 – 7:30 p.m.
GAME 4: BRO vs OJS – Fri., Apr. 6 – 7:30 p.m.
GAME 5: OJS vs BRO – Sat., Apr. 7 – 8:00 p.m. *
GAME 6: BRO vs OJS – Tues., Apr. 10 – 7:30 p.m. *
GAME 7: OJS vs BRO – Wed., Apr. 11 – 7:30 p.m. *
Quarter-finals
(1) CPC vs (8) ROC – CPC wins 4-1
GAME 1: CPC vs ROC – CPC 6-2
GAME 2: ROC vs CPC – ROC 3-2 (OT)
GAME 3: CPC vs ROC – CPC 4-2
GAME 4: ROC vs CPC – CPC 3-0
GAME 5: CPC vs ROC – CPC 7-2
(2) OJS vs (7) PLK – OJS wins 4-2
GAME 1: OJS vs PLK – OJS 5-0
GAME 2: PLK vs OJS – OJS 6-2
GAME 3: OJS vs PLK – PLK 4-2
GAME 4: PLK vs OJS – OJS 4-0
GAME 5: OJS vs PLK – PLK 4-3
GAME 6: PLK vs OJS – OJS 6-1
(3) BRO vs (6) KAN – BRO wins 4-0
GAME 1: BRO vs KAN – BRO 5-3
GAME 2: KAN vs BRO – BRO 5-4 (OT)
GAME 3: BRO vs KAN – BRO 4-3
GAME 4: KAN vs BRO – BRO 4-2
(4) HAW vs (5) CRW – HAW wins 4-3
GAME 1: HAW vs CRW – HAW 4-3
GAME 2: CRW vs HAW – CRW 4-2
GAME 3: HAW vs CRW – HAW 4-3 (OT2)
GAME 4: CRW vs HAW – HAW 3-1
GAME 5: HAW vs CRW – CRW 3-2 (OT2)
GAME 6: CRW vs HAW – Sun., Mar. 25 – CRW 4-3 (OT)
GAME 7: HAW vs CRW – Tues., Mar. 27 – HAW 9-0
