Ottawa, ON – The Ottawa Jr. Senators (15-2-1) took care of business to remain first place overall in the CCHL standings following three victories over Smiths Falls on Wednesday, Renfrew on Friday, then Cornwall on Saturday.
Wednesday – Ottawa 4, Smiths Falls 2
After a decisive win in their first matchup of this season, the Smiths Falls Bears made life a little tougher in Wednesday’s tilt, which resulted in a victory for the home side.
Edward Moskowitz got the scoring started as he crashed the net and buried a beautiful feed from Mark MacPhee to get the Jr. Senators on the board just over six minutes into the contest.
As the momentum shifted in favour of the Bears, Sean James took the feed from Brody Fournier and saught out open ice to tie the score before the period was half old.
In the second, the Jr. Senators conceded another odd-man rush for James to bury his second of the game under five minutes into the period.
From there – the turning point came from a season high-26 shots in the middle period, which resulted in the equalizer from Vincent Velocci’s seventh of the season.
In the third, the Jr. Senators rode the momentum from the second to take the lead for good with Thomas Freel getting his eighth of the season and scoring in his third straight game. Philippe Jacques sealed the deal with an empty netter to give the Jr. Senators their sixth home win.
Felix Schnell made 17 stops in a ounce back win, while Bears starter Victor Dejardins was spectacular – stopping 47 of 50 in the losing effort.
The Jr. Senators went 1-for-2 on the man advantage while the Bears went 0-for-2.
Friday – Ottawa 3, Renfrew 2
In a playoff-like atmosphere, the Jr.Senators spoiled the party with a massive 3-2 road win in their first visit to the Ma-te-way Activity Centre.
Anthony Provost got the scoring started 1:44 into the contest as he beat Will Craig from the left circle for his first CCHL goal. Edward Moskowitz appeared to give the Jr. Senators the lead midway through the first, but the goal was disallowed due to a kicking motion.
As the Wolves began the second on a double-minor powerplay, Elvis Slack beat William Desmarais from the right circle to tie the score.
The hostile environment didn’t phase the Jr. Senators defence core at the midway point of the game as they converted on a pair of goals within 1:15 to take a 3-1 lead courtesy of Alex Pineau and Wil Murphy’s first CCHL goal. Elvis Slack’s second of the game just over a minute later cut the deficit to one as the middle frame expired.
the Jr. Senators’ defence core and penalty kill bared down in the final 20 to preserve the one-goal win and their first over the Renfrew Wolves franchise.
William Desmarias made 35 stops in the win, while Wolves starter Will Craig turned aside 40.
The Jr. Senators went 0-for-3 on the man advantage while the Wolves went 1-for-5.
Saturday – Ottawa 3, Cornwall 0
In perhaps the most consistent effort of the season, speed was the forte as the Jr. Senators shut out the Cornwall Colts to keep their home record unbeaten on the 2021-2022 campaign.
After Edward Moskowitz prevented a goal at one end, Vincent Velocci found a streaking Anthony Provost who beat Alex Houston five-hole for his second goal of the year and second in as many games to have OJS up one after one.
In the second, the speed continued as Julian Recine found the back of the net for the first time in eight games on the powerplay to double the lead.
As the OJS defence shut down anything the Colts could muster, Sam Edwards found the empty net to preserve the goose egg and the club’s 15th victory of the season.
After 36 career games, Felix Schnell recorded his first career CCHL shutout with 13 saves, while Alex Houston stopped 39 of 41 in the Colts cage.
The Jr. Senators went 1-for-2 on the man advantage while the Colts went 0-for-1.
The Ottawa Jr. Senators return to the ice on Wednesday to take on the Navan Grads with puck drop scheduled for 7:20 PM. Catch all the action with Mason Detre and Davide Disipio on the Jr. Senators Broadcast Network at Mixlr.com/OJSradio and on Hockey TV.
