Canadians one win away from Bogart Cup Finals

By: Daniel Vazzoler

One more win is all that separates the Carleton Place Canadians and a berth into the Bogart Cup Finals following Tuesday’s 4-1 victory in Game Three of the semi-finals series against the Hawkesbury Hawks.

Sam Knoblauch paced the Canadians offence with an assist on each of the four goals, while Ben Tupker and Haydn Hopkins each chipped in with a pair of points in the game. Michael Leach wasn’t tested much on Tuesday, but he was up to the task when the Hawks put the pressure on Carleton Place as Leach stopped 18 of 19 shots he faced.

“It was our first game through the whole playoffs where we played a solid 60 minutes,” Canadians head coach Jason Clarke said. “I liked how we handled Hawkesbury’s tenacity and fore-check in the first period. We beared down and did a lot of really good things and we just played a consistent 60 minutes. It’s the best 60 minutes we’ve played all playoffs long.”

Hopkins got the Canadians on the score-sheet early with his first of two power play goals, jamming a rebound past Matthew Petizian for a one-goal lead 5:26 into the period.

Alec Taillon responded with a power play goal of his own – also scored off a rebound – three minutes later, before Noah Tooke beat Petizian with a wrist shot after the Knoblauch pass on the rush.

Knoblauch said he thought he had a good game but was quick to pass the praise onto his team-mates for helping him have his offensive success.

“The power play was working well (going 2-for-3) and guys did a good job of getting open and finishing, that’s what it came down to,” he said.

“The big thing with Knoblauch was his compete level without the puck,” Clarke pointed out. “I thought he took a lot of time and space away, won a lot of one-on-one battles and took a lot of the good ice away from Hawkesbury to create turnovers.

“When Sam can create turnovers and get turnovers, then his play-making ability is elite,” the coach continued. “It was the best game I’ve seen him play so far in the playoffs and he needs to have the same type of performance [Wednesday] night.”

Knoblauch’s play-making ability helped create the third Canadians goal that Tupker scored with less than 0:30 to play in the second period and help create a bigger gap – a gap that would have been much larger had it not been for a handful of exquisite saves from Petizian to keep his team in the game.

Tupker muscled his way out of the corner and one-handed the puck around the defender before cutting across the crease and slipping the puck past Petizian for a 3-1 lead going to the third period.

“Zach (Tupker) and ‘Knob’ were doing a lot of good work in the corner and then the puck switched sides,” he said about the goal. “I was in a race with the defender and Knoblauch did a great job of coming in to help out, set a bit of a pick and I was able to take it to the net. Zach took his man to the net as well, so I had some open room and was able to tuck it in. It was a five-man effort, everyone did their job and, luckily, I was in the right spot at the right time.”

Hopkins got his second goal midway through the third period, allowing Carleton Place to guide its way to victory in the final 10 minutes.

There’s no time for Carleton Place to celebrate the win and for Hawkesbury to dwell on the loss as Game Four goes Wednesday night in Hawkesbury and with the Hawks facing elimination.

“Clarke talks all the time about how the hardest game to win in a series is the close-out game,” Knoblauch said. “We know they’ll be fighting for their lives, some of their guys it could their final junior game so they’re not going to go down easy and not just lie down. We need the same attitude we had [Tuesday] and I think we’ll give ourselves a good chance.”

If the Hawks can stave off elimination, the series comes back to Carleton Place for Game Five on Friday before potentially heading back to Hawkesbury the next night for Game Six.

Playoff Matchups Around the League

* = if necessary

BOLD = higher seed home game

Semi-finals

(1) CPC vs (4) HAW – CPC leads 3-0

GAME 1: CPC vs HAW – CPC 4-2

GAME 2: HAW vs CPC – CPC 3-2

GAME 3: CPC vs HAW – CPC 4-1

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 2-1

GAME 1: OJS vs BRO – OJS 6-1

GAME 2: BRO vs OJS – OJS 5-1

GAME 3: OJS vs BRO – BRO 3-1

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