Ottawa advances past Kanata for a meeting with Brockville in Semi-Finals

Ottawa, Ontario – The Ottawa Jr. Senators advanced to the Bogart Cup Semi-Finals with a 5-0 win over the Kanata Lasers on Monday night at the Jim Durrell Sports Complex.

Ottawa wins the series 4-1. It’s the first time that their series has finished in five games in the first round since the 2016-17 season, when they beat Brockville in five games.

The Jr. Senators will face off against the Brockville Braves after they defeated the Smiths Falls Bears on Tuesday. These two opponents now meet in the post-season for the third straight season, with game one scheduled at home on Sunday March 31st. Last year, Ottawa defeated Brockville in seven games, before advancing to the Bogart Cup Final.

On Monday night, Ottawa received contributions from all over the lineup. Declan Hilton, Chris Piche, Kyle Jackson (1G/1A), Noah Rowe (1G/1A) and Ethan Manderville (1G/1A) all scored, while Francis Boisvert made 25-saves for his second shutout of the playoffs.

Prior to game five, Head Coach Martin Dagenais changed up the lines, most notably adding Manderville to the top line with Piche and Andrew Remer.

“That line was our best line, even though all four lines were good. I didn’t make any changes to the lineup in awhile because things were going so well, and I just wanted to make sure the guys were getting the wake-up call.”

Dagenais later said that Hilton and Piche’s first period goals got the team going.

“It got everyone going. They’re two guys that are well liked in the room because they work hard and never complain.”

With Boisvert’s second shutout of the playoffs, he lowered his GAA to 1.06 and brought his SV% to .957. Dagenais said he was average in game four, but bounced back in the series clinching win.

“Every time he gives us an average performance, he steps up the next game. We have full confidence in him and we think he’s going to be a force for us going forward.”

With Brockville coming up and almost a whole week off for OJS, the veteran Ottawa Head Coach said that they will need to focus on their defensive play and keeping turnovers to a minimum.

“If we have to get the puck out, it’s going to have to go out. With Brockville, they have two very good goaltenders and they also have the best top four D-core in the league. It’s going to be tough because they have a bunch of guys that will work hard and play the right way.”

“The game will change too, because we’re going to spend a lot of time in the defensive-zone, which means we might get more odd-man rushes if they turn the puck over. It’s very difficult when you spend the majority of the game in the offensive-zone.”

Game one of the Bogart Cup Semi-Finals will start on Monday March 31st at 4:30 p.m. You can catch the broadcast on CKDJ 107.9, mixlr.com/ojsradio and Hockey TV.