By: Daniel Vazzoler
Just one night after winning a tight Game Three on home ice, the Carleton Place Canadians went on the road to play Game Four against the Rockland Nationals and left the CIH Arena with a 3-0 win and, more importantly, a 3-1 series lead.
After being kept off the score-sheet in the first two games of the series, Keenan Reynolds has three points in the last two games – including leading the scoring on Thursday with a goal and an assist. In total, eight Canadians picked up a point as Michael Leach made 22 saves in the shut-out victory.
Justin Cmunt opened the scoring with his second goal in as many games. The Nationals had a chance to clear the puck, but a turnover at the blue-line created the chance. Reynolds chipped the puck into the slot and Nick Pryce tried to move it back to Reynolds. Cmunt got the deflected pass right between the hash-marks and a quick shot beat Sean Storr on the glove-side for the lead with 1:37 left in the first period.
Early in the second period, Sam Knoblauch added to the Canadians lead to cap off a wonderfully executed break-out from the Carleton Place zone. A quick pass from Zach Tupker to Ben Tupker caught Rockland on the line change and Ben found Knoblauch just on the edge of the crease for a chip-shot to beat Storr from in close.
Reynolds beat Storr late in the game, deflecting the Tim Theocharidis shot past Storr to cap of the scoring on Thursday.
The two teams now get a day of rest on Friday before Carleton Place has a chance to win the series in Game Five on Saturday night at the Carleton Place Arena. If not, Rockland and Carleton Place will once again have to deal with games on consecutive days – with an even shorter turn-around – with Game Six scheduled for Sunday at 2:30 p.m. back at the CIH Arena.
Playoff Matchups Around the League
* = if necessary
BOLD = higher seed home game
(1) CPC vs (8) ROC – CPC leads 3-1
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 – Sat., Mar. 24 – 7:15 p.m.
GAME 6: ROC vs CPC – Sun., Mar. 25 – 2:30 p.m. *
GAME 7: CPC vs ROC – Tues., Mar. 27 – 7:15 p.m. *
(2) OJS vs (7) PLK – OJS leads 3-2
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 – Sun., Mar. 25 – 7:00 p.m.
GAME 7: OJS vs PLK – Tues., Mar. 27 – 7:30 p.m. *
(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 leads 3-1
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 – Fri., Mar. 23 – 7:30 p.m.
GAME 6: CRW vs HAW – Sun., Mar. 25 – 7:00 p.m. *
GAME 7: HAW vs CRW – Tues., Mar. 27 – 7:30 p.m. *
