By: Daniel Vazzoler
Three different Carleton Place Canadians each scored a pair of goals on Monday during the Canadians 7-2 win over the Smiths Falls Bears.
Sam Allison, Peyton Francis and Nick Pryce each got their goals back-to-back and Pryce added an assist late in the game for a three-point effort. With the Canadians playing on consecutive days, Michael Leach got the start in goal and made 22 saves to earn the victory.
Sam Knoblauch opened the scoring, one-timing the Ben Tupker pass over Kyle Renaud’s blocker shoulder late in the first period before Pryce scored his first goal. Keenan Reynolds took the puck at centre-ice danced his way through the Bears defence. Reynolds hit Pryce with a pass into the slot, leaving Pryce with an open net to look at.
Midway through the second period, Pryce scored his second goal while the Canadians were on the power play. Carleton Place moved the puck around the Smiths Falls zone and Geoff Kitt hit Pryce in front of the net with a pass that Pryce deflected past Renaud.
“In all honesty, I didn’t really have to move too much for my goals, team-mates did a good job of putting the puck on my stick and I got a little bit lucky there, but I’ll take it,” Pryce said. “I was just trying to get open, find empty space and make myself an option.”
“It’s good to see Pryce get rewarded, he was pretty good here on Sunday but was a little snake-bitten and he made some good plays,” added Canadians coach Jason Clarke.
After Pryce scored his two goals, it Allison’s turn to get his pair of goals. He showed great patience on his first goal, cutting across the slot before sliding the puck past a sprawled-out Renaud off the post and in for the goal.
His second goal was a case of good fortune as Allison set himself up at the side of the net when the puck bounced off him and then past Renaud to give the Canadians a 5-0 lead with 5:10 remaining in the second period.
“Allison’s been good for a while now,” Clarke praised. “He’s been very consistent over the last, I’d say 10 games, and he’s getting everything he deserves.”
Mitchell Larabie scored the Bears first goal late in the second period with a rebound goal on the power play. Matthieu Franche added to the Bears total in the third period, scoring between Francis’s two goals.
Francis first scored on a breakaway, splitting between the defence and pulling away from them before snapping a shot past Renaud’s blocker. He scored his second goal in similar style, getting the puck in the slot and beat Renaud with an almost identical shot, once again, beating Renaud’s blocker.
“Well, I think one of the things with Francis is he didn’t have a very good first half of the game and wasn’t moving his feet,” Clarke said. “He started moving his feet and got himself into areas where he can and when Peyton Francis is skating, he’s a very dangerous player.”
Monday’s game ended a week-end of three games in four days for the Canadians, something that the team’s captain said can help prepare for the playoffs.
“I feel everyone had a lot of energy, which is a good sign when we’re getting close to the playoffs,” Kitt said. “In playoffs, we’re going to have a lot of games in a short period of time and I thought everyone played hard today. Maybe a little bit tired in the third period, but that’s to be expected in a three-in-four-days week-end.”
Carleton Place is down to its final five games of the regular season and is two points away from capturing the top spot in the CCHL. The team, however, says it is more focused on itself and the way it plays heading down the stretch.
“We don’t want to have any being selfish and looking for points in certain games and we’ve got some tough match-ups coming up here against Ottawa (Jr. Senators) and Hawkesbury (Hawks),” Kitt said. “They always play us tough and it will be good to see how we fare against them late in the year.”
“We want to continue to get better, we’ve still got a few things we want to sharpen up before playoffs and I think that’s going to be our key,” added Clarke.
The Canadians have a chance to lock up the regular season league title this week-end, starting with Friday’s game against the Kemptville 73’s before Sunday’s game against the second-place Ottawa Jr. Senators.
