By Davide Disipio
Carleton Place, ON – With the CCHL trade deadline just 45 minutes following the start of a Friday night contest in Carleton Place, the Canadians (35-5-5), were able to hold onto a slim one-goal lead for a majority of the second half of the game to defeat the Ottawa Jr. Senators (22-18-2).
Ryland Mosley stole the show offensively for the Canadians, with four assists in the game, including a pair in the first period, as the Jr. Senators saw themselves down 2-1 after the opening period of play.
Ethan Mulhearn got the lone goal for the Jr. Senators in the opening period, taking advantage of a failed reversal from Ayo Adeniye to catch Devon Levi out of position, for his 14th goal of the season, and fifth in his last 10 games.
“It was a good solid game,” said Jr. Senators assistant coach Ben Reinhardt. “We had opportunities in the third period and took it to them. you know we were missing guys, but obviously the result we’re not happy with.”
The backbreaker would come 1:41 into the second period where Cameron Patton found the back of the net which would ultimately be the game-winning goal, giving the Canadians a 3-1 lead.
Thomas Freel cut the deficit to one, seven minutes into the period with his team-leading 19th of the year, and first since December 11th.
The Jr. Senators offense took over, pushing the pace in the third period, but couldn’t find the equalizer.
“I was really happy,” added Reinhardt. “Obviously those two penalties late took the wind out of our sails, but we were making them push, you know this isn’t an easy rink to play in. A lot of these guys are new to playing this team in this building, they (Carleton Place) are really big and tough, so that took a while to get used to.”
Curtis Fabbro and Julian Recine made their Jr. Senators debut in the loss, since coming over earlier in the day via trade with the Kanata Lasers.
“For guys that just came in without a practice, they were great,” noted Reinhardt. “They brought a lot of energy and some scoring opportunities, but the other pieces we brought in, there is a lot of potential, and I’m really excited to work with these guys.”
Fabbro, 18, began the season with the Navan Grads, before being traded to the Kanata Lasers in early December. The 6’1, 181 lbs forward was a member of the Jr. Senators U18 program in the 2016-17 season, before being traded to Navan apart of a three-way deal that brought Nick Lalonde to Ottawa.
“This year I’ve been playing all sorts of positions,” said Curtis Fabbro. “Been getting better at the wing, because before I was mainly a centre, and I want to bring a lot of leadership to this younger team. I went to high school with (Thomas) Freel and (Brendan) Bays, but also played U18 with Freel, we’ve been really close all the way through, so I don’t think it will be that tough of an adjustment.”
The Jr. Senators return to the ice on Wednesday to take on the Nepean Raiders from the Steve Yzerman Arena for a 7:30 puck drop on the Jr. Senators Broadcast Network and Hockey TV.
