Ottawa, ON – The Ottawa Jr. Senators continued their 2022 Bogart Cup playoff run with a narrow 2-1 OT win over the Smiths Falls Bears in Game 3 on home ice Saturday night, to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
With the Bears on an early powerplay, the common theme to the series played a factor, with Simon Isabelle waiting out Will McEvoy off a Recine centering pass shorthanded to get OJS on the board.
Isabelle’s first of the postseason accounted for the Jr. Senators’ fifth shorthanded goal of the series.
Eli Doughart-Wood later responded to tie the score with his first of the playoffs, pinching in from the right point and redirecting home to Kyle Maloney feed.
The score would stay tied for the rest of regulation, but not before the team’s exchanged great chances before the 60-minute mark of the contest.
Jake Code nearly converted late in the second on a partial break, when McEvoy kicked out the left skate to keep the game tied. In period three, Brody Fournier had a great chance of his own for the Bears, but the OJS defence managed to keep the attack at bay.
In overtime, OJS fed the puck down the ice from their own end, when the top line went to work. Thomas Freel’s shot from the left circle trickled into the back of the net off Recine’s skate for his second of the playoffs and the OT winner.
William Desmarais stopped 21 for the win, while Bears starter Will McEvoy was spectacular, making 46 stops in the OT defeat
The Jr. Senators went 0-for-3 on the man advantage while the Bears went 0-for-4.
The Ottawa Jr. Senators are back in action for Game 4 of their first-round quarter-final action tomorrow night at 7:30 from the Smiths Falls Memorial Centre. Catch all the action with Mason Detre and Davide Disipio on the Jr. Senators Broadcast Network at Mixlr.com/OJSradio and on Hockey TV.
