By: Daniel Vazzoler
Thursday night was not a good game for the Carleton Place Canadians as they were handed a 4-1 loss against the Kanata Lasers.
Special teams were the difference on Thursday, with Luca Nocita providing the two power play goals for Kanata. Carleton Place was held without a power play goal for the third straight game, going 0-for-3 on Thursday, and have gone 2-for-25 in its last five games with the man advantage.
“You’ve got to tip your cap to Kanata, they were ready to play and their power play was really good,” Canadians head coach Jason Clarke said. “Our special teams weren’t very good [but] we had some really good chances to score 5-on-5 early in the game and in the second period. We just didn’t have a great effort. Your best players have to be your best players and our best players weren’t very good [Thursday].”
The box score says Carleton Place outshot Kanata by a count of 38-31, with Gabriel Carriere getting credited of making 37 saves in the win, but Kanata controlled the pace of the game. The Lasers had won six of their last seven games heading into Thursday, and the momentum from that strong stretch of play was evident.
Carleton Place assistant captain Sam Knoblauch acknowledged the Kanata streak, but also added his team’s performance played a large role in the loss as “guys, including myself, just weren’t ready to go,” for Thursday’s game.
With the Canadians missing a wealth of experience from the line-up and four key players that were away at the World Jr. A Challenge, fatigue may be an excuse for some but not for Carleton Place, said Clarke.
“We’re in shape, our players just finished having American Thanksgiving off. They had five full days off during the regular season, which no other team has, so there’s no fatigue factor. We were bad and that’s all there was to it. It’s our first regulation loss since Sept. 29, we were bound to lose. I didn’t like the way we lost, but we were bound to lose.”
Carleton Place had the league’s best penalty kill heading into the game, but an “off-night” for the team leaked its way into the penalty kill. Nocita and the Lasers took advantage of that with a pair of power play goals to take a 2-0 lead.
“They did a good job of spreading us out on top and then, on the goals, I just made two mistakes that I rarely make and they ended up in our net,” Knoblauch expressed. “Definitely disappointing but it’s motivating for next game.”
Liam Markhauser appeared to put the game out of reach of the Canadians by making the score 3-0 with 8:34 left in the third period. A late goal from Connor Hill cut the deficit to two goals, but William Brochu scored an empty-net goal in the final minute to seal the victory for Kanata.
The good news for the Canadians is they don’t have a long time to dwell on the loss as they are back in action on Friday with a road game against the Rockland Nationals.
“We’re going to have bad games, we know that. We didn’t play well [Thursday] but it’s nice we don’t have a week to sit on it, we get to play [Friday], that’s always a good thing. We’re right back at it in Rockland, just kind of forget about (this game), wake up and get back at it,” Knoblauch said.
“Sometimes losing and getting right back at it is a good thing,” Clarke added. “Let’s hope it is Friday.”
