Darren Desaulniers-Ottawa Citizen
WILD 3, JR. SENS 2 SO
Glass half-full types would be encouraged that the Ottawa Jr. Senators have yet to lose in regulation at the RBC Cup in Chilliwack, B.C. Glass half-empty folks would be down over the fact they haven’t won in regulation.
But the Jr. Sens are in good shape and control their own fate as they close out the round-robin portion of the tournament late Wednesday night.
After an overtime win and an overtime loss in their first two games, the Jr. Sens took it all the way to the fifth round of a shootout Tuesday before dropping a 3-2 decision to the Wenatchee Wild, the Pacific representatives at the tournament.
A win Wednesday would secure a spot in Saturday ’s semifinals. Ottawa will face the Western-representative Steinbach Pistons, who had the day off Tuesday, but have only regulation and overtime losses to boast of this far in the tournament.
Connor Hicks was again solid in the Ottawa goal, turning aside 36 of 38 shots through regulation, but didn’t face a single shot in the 10-minute overtime.
Wenatchee’s Cooper Zech and Matt Dorsey beat Hicks in the shootout, while only Gabriel Morin scored for the Jr. Sens in the shootout. Wild goalie Austin Pack stopped Finn Evans with the final attempt to get the win.
The round robin concludes Thursday with two games, while the semifinal games are Saturday. The gold-medal game is Sunday at 7 p.m.
