By: Daniel Vazzoler
Wednesday’s game was billed as a clash of CCHL titans, and the Carleton Place Canadians and Ottawa Jr. Senators did not disappoint those who were in attendance at the Jim Durrell Complex.
The two teams entered the game with a combined 37-5-3 record and it took a shoot-out to determine who won this game, as it was the Canadians who left with a 3-2 victory thanks to Justin Cmunt scoring the game-winning goal in the shoot-out.
“I thought both teams played very well, it was an entertaining game,” said Canadians coach Jason Clarke. “We as a group still understand that Ottawa still had two top forwards out, but injuries are a part of the game.”
The Canadians fell behind twice in the game, but were able to ensure a 39-save performance from Jeremie Forget did not go to waste. After Silas Mattawashish opened the scoring for Ottawa late in the second period, Travis Broughman tied the game less than a minute into the third period. Owen Guy responded less than four minutes later but October’s third star of the month Sam Knoblauch tied the game with 6:03 left in regulation.
“I liked how our team dealt with adversity during the game,” Clarke said. “We showed signs of maturing as a team. We stuck with it, stuck to our structure and the boys didn’t panic.”
Ottawa and Carleton Place feature high-powered offences, but the goaltenders shut them down for most of the game. Forget, along with his 39 saves in the game, stopped all seven shots he faced in the shoot-out. Francis Boisvert made 29 saves and stopped the first six attempts in the shoot-out before Cmunt beat him with a wrist shot for the game-winner.
Clarke added he thinks the win against Ottawa won’t go to his players’ heads, saying the Canadians “have to play to our standards on a consistent basis.”
“We have a lot of respect for how Ottawa plays,” Clarke continued. “The win felt good to beat a very well coached and talented team.”
Carleton Place wraps up its string of three road games on Friday when they face the Rockland Nationals before returning to the Carleton Place Arena on Sunday afternoon to face the Kemptville 73’s to try and keep the 12-game winning streak alive.
