On Saturday evening, the Ottawa Jr Senators picked up their third victory of the season in style by defeating the then 3-2 Brockville Braves in a shootout. Rookie forward Dax Kenney was the hero of the game, beating Oliver Li in the shootout to seal the victory for his team.
Ottawa entered Saturday night’s contest with a 2-2 record, sitting in the bottom half of the standings. They were punching up against a Braves team that had been named one of the top 20 teams in the CJHL, alongside the Rockland Nationals and Smiths Falls Bears, just the week prior.
It didn’t help that Ottawa – somewhat characteristically – started the game slowly, allowing Brockville to take a lead both on the scoreboard and in the shots on goal. By the end of the opening 20 minutes, the Braves led 2-0 thanks to goals by newcomer Jack Lowry and veteran forward Ryan McNally.
“Just be better, stay calm and stay poised,” said Kane about the discussion in the locker room between the first and second period. “We have a skilled group so we know we can come back.”
Things started to look better in the second period. Ottawa’s top line of captain Xavier Guillemette, Wynston Iserhoff and Ben Kozyra scored in the opening seconds of the period on a hard-working wrap-around play spearheaded by Kozyra. While Kozyra won the puck battle and put the puck on net, Guillemette finished it by jamming the puck into the back of the net to secure his first goal of the season and cut the Brockville lead in half. The rest of the period was scoreless, with goaltender Josh Scully making a few key saves at critical moments.
The Jr Senators poured on the pressure in the third period while Brockville sat back, focusing on a defensive game. Brockville goaltender Oliver Li stood tall in the crease, keeping Ottawa at bay until the dying minutes of the third.
With just under three minutes remaining in the game, Eric Kane took advantage of a bad turnover on the wall to cut to the dot with the puck. He fired the puck low, gloveside on Li to tie the game and register his first goal of the season. Henry Brady was credited with an assist on the play, repaying Kane for his beautiful feed to get Brady his first goal the game before. Both players now have points in back-to-back games.
“I have to give credit where it is due, my linemates Valette and Brady have really stepped it up in the last two games,” said Kane after the game. “They’re a big reason for our success.”
The Ottawa fans surged to their feet following the goal, loudly applauding the hometown team for tying up the game and forcing overtime. Ultimately, the game was decided in the shootout. Jesse Lumsden scored on the opening shot for Brockville before Iserhoff responded for Ottawa. Misses from McNally and Caleb Mead in round two left it all to the third set of shooters for both sides.
Scully stopped Volodymyr Karpachov’s attempt at the beginning of round three to leave the door open for Dax Kenney to win it for Ottawa. He went post-and in on the shot, beating Li and sealing the victory for Ottawa in dramatic fashion.
“It’s definitely my biggest goal so far in junior hockey,” said Kenney, who has a goal and two assists in his first four games in the CCHL.
Ottawa has a week to rest before taking on the struggling Carleton Place Canadians in a home-and-home series this weekend. They will play the first game at the Jim Durrell arena on Saturday night.
