By: Daniel Vazzoler
It was a less-than-ideal start to the holiday week-end for the Carleton Place Canadians, losing 4-0 to the Smiths Falls Bears in Smiths Falls on Friday.
Carleton Place couldn’t beat Victor Desjardins on any of the 27 shots sent in the direction of the Bears goaltender. At the other end of the rink, Addison Lawrence stopped 22 of 26 shots he faced in the Canadians goal.
Neither team could get much done offensively in the first period, until Theo Todd broke the scoreless draw late in the first period. Todd took the Tate Leeson pass on the rush and got past the Canadians defence before chipping his shot past Lawrence’s glove hand.
The second period was similar to the first, again having to wait for the last four minutes of the period for a goal to be scored.
Brendan Dempsey doubled the Bears lead with 3:49 remaining in the middle frame before Leeson made it 3-0 with a power play goal.
The Canadians struggled with discipline in the final period of regulation, not allowing the comeback to get started. Six Carleton Place penalties led to five Bears power plays during the third period and Smiths Falls took advantage to seal the victory.
Nicolas Lariviere finished the scoring with a power play goal late in the period. Smiths Falls won the offensive zone face-off back to the defence. Wyatt Villalta set up Lariviere who one-timed the pass and blasted his slap shot past Lawrence.
The Canadians have now dropped their last two games, perhaps a sign of a team that played seven games in 11 days – a stretch that ended with the 4-1 loss on Sunday to the Navan Grads. There’s no rest for the weary Canadians as the Thanksgiving weekend still has two games remaining. Carleton Place faces the Brockville Braves on Sunday before it takes on the Pembroke Lumber Kings on Thanksgiving Monday.
