By: Daniel Vazzoler
The Brockville Braves have been a thorn in the side of the Carleton Place Canadians – especially at the Brockville Memorial Centre – but the Canadians picked up a 3-1 win on Friday in Brockville.
Carleton Place’s previous two visits to the BMC resulted in a pair of shoot-out losses, but a full-team effort ensured this game ended in regulation. Jeremie Forget made 18 saves and eight different Canadians picked up points – Ben Tupker was the only player with multiple points with his two assists.
Keenan Reynolds opened the scoring less than four minutes into the game, taking advantage of an Eric Holland turnover. Reynolds picked off the Holland pass in the slot before snapping a wrist shot past Justin Evenson’s blocker.
Nicholas Vlahos tied the game 10:05 into the first period as the Braves took advantage of a takeaway of their own. Tyson Kirkby gathered in the loose puck at centre-ice and moved the puck ahead for Vlahos. The Canadians defence was changing before the turnover, sparking a 3-on-1 rush for the Braves. Vlahos took the pass on the right-wing side and beat Forget with a wrist shot on Forget’s glove-side.
Joshua Gagne restored the Carleton Place lead in the early portion of the second period. With the puck down in the corner, and all the Braves watching the puck, Gagne snuck down from the blue-line to find himself wide open and all alone in the slot. Zach Tupker slipped his pass across the edge of the crease and Gagne one-timed his shot over Evenson’s shoulder for the 2-1 lead.
Carleton Place controlled the first two periods, outshooting Brockville 39-16, and then dominated the third period to ensure there would be no chance of a come-back – beating the Braves 17-3 in shots during the third period.
Brett Thorne gave the Canadians some insurance, extending the lead to 3-1 with 2:11 left in the game. Similar to Gagne’s goal, all five Braves players were focused on the puck in the corner and allowed Thorne to come down from the blue-line. Sam Knoblauch found the wide-open Thorne and the Canadians defenceman used the wrist shot to beat Evenson.
Carleton Place and Brockville meet up again on Sunday at the Carleton Place Arena for the final game between these two teams of the regular season. The Canadians are also on home ice on Monday as the Canadians organization is hosting a double-header for Family Day. The CCHL Tier 2 Carleton Place Jr. Canadians host the Arnprior Packers at noon and the Jr. A Canadians host the Smiths Falls Bears.
