By: Daniel Vazzoler
After shutting out the Pembroke Lumber Kings on Friday, Jeremie Forget once again proved impenetrable as he picked up a 24-save shut-out on Sunday against the Cornwall Colts.
Carleton Place Canadians defenceman Tim Theocharidis made sure his goaltender’s efforts weren’t wasted as he had an impressive game himself with a hat-trick in the Canadians 4-0 win at the Carleton Place Arena.
“I felt pretty confident with the puck,” Theocharidis said. “Skating up the ice, (Cornwall was) playing a 1-3-1 so it gives us time to get into the zone and get pucks deep. I was just shooting pucks from the point when I had the lane.”
He scored a pair of goals in the first period, opening the scoring with 7:19 left in the period – beating Liam Lascelle right after the Geoff Kitt face-off win. Theocharidis then played pinball to get his second goal with his wrist shot that bounced off the bodies in front of Lascelle before looping past the Colts goalie.
“I was just trying to get a shot off and the ice was kind of bad at the end of the period and (the puck) didn’t come off my stick the way I wanted it to. Luck was on our side there, getting the bounces, and the puck bounced into the net,” he said.
Forget wasn’t tested much in the first period, stopping all three shots he faced, but that changed in the second period as he was forced to make 18 saves.
“I was just trying to stay calm and give my team a chance,” he said of the second period. “I knew they had played well in the first, so that was my turn to play well for them.”
Carleton Place outshot Cornwall a combined 33-6 in the first and the third period, but the Colts outshot the Canadians 18-16 in the second period, where Canadians coach Jason Clarke said his team played “greedy.”
“We got caught a couple times having four guys down low and, against a team like Cornwall, you can’t do that,” he added. “If it wasn’t for Forget, it could have easily been 2-2 or 3-3 after the second period.”
Forget earned his second shut-out in as many games on Sunday, and his third shut-out in four games.
“I’m for sure pretty confident right now, but it’s really a team effort. They’re playing well in front of me and they’re making my job really easy,” he said.
“We have a great goalie in Forget and seven very good defencemen,” Canadians assistant captain Sam Knoblauch said. “I’m proud of the guys, getting back-to-back shut-outs isn’t easy to do. The forwards having been coming back to pucks and playing good defence as well. It’s been a team effort.”
Keenan Reynolds added to the Carleton Place lead in the second period with a wrap-around goal, banking the puck in off the skates of a Colts defender. The goal signalled the end of the night for Lascelle as he was replaced by Michael Carr after the goal.
Tim Theocharidis capped off his hat-trick with a short-handed goal in the third period. Kitt sprung the defenceman on a breakaway. Theocharidis rushed down the ice on his backhand side and chipped the puck past Carr for the goal.
“Tim’s a special player, everyone knows he’s the best player on the team so I don’t think it’s surprising,” Knoblauch said. “He’s got a really good shot, so guys have to make sure they get him the puck. He shot the puck today, it went in and it’s always good to get some (scoring) help from the back-end.”
Carleton Place wraps up its four-game home-stand on Friday when the Navan Grads come to the Carleton Place Arena before the Canadians are on the road on Saturday, travelling to face the Kemptville 73’s.
