A win on Saturday night against the Smiths Falls Bears vaulted Ottawa into third place in the CCHL standings. For just under 20 hours, they were tied for second with the Kemptville 73’s; however, a win against Hawkesbury earlier today gave Kemptville sole ownership of second once more.
The 4-2 win over Smiths Falls continues Ottawa’s winning ways. Since the beginning of October, the Jr Sens are 7-1-1 for a total of 15 points during scary season.
“I thought it was a real team win,” said head coach Mark Grady. “The kids played hard right through. The second period, we may have deserved a better fate with the amount of scoring chances we had, and in the third period, they decided they were going to play a team game and grind it out to the end.”
Cedrik St-Pierre opened the scoring by deflecting Merlin Offman’s pass home on the power play to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead. Deklym Campbell was given an assist on the play, giving him his third point in his first two games since Ottawa acquired him from the Nepean Raiders.
In the second period, Ottawa peppered Smiths Falls goaltender Rafael Tremblay with shots, but only came away with a single goal, which was credited to Nathan Pratt-Vallier. The right-shot defender scored his first CCHL goal by joining the rush and pouncing on a rebound in front to tuck it into the back of the net.
“Big monkey off the back,” said Pratt-Vallier after the game. “It’s good to get the first one out of the way.”
Despite Ottawa’s efforts, the game was tied after 40 minutes of play. D.J. Ott and Caden Heins, both of whom hail from the United States, cashed in during the second period to even the score at two going into the third.
As Grady mentioned, Ottawa took over in the third period by playing a very structured team game. A bad turnover just inside the Smiths Falls’ blue line gave Ben Kozyra a shorthanded breakaway just minutes into the period. Kozyra made a slick move to the backhand before sliding the puck between Tremblay’s legs. The penalty kill was one of the strongest parts of Ottawa’s game, ultimately going five for five during the game on top of the shorthanded goal.
Halfway through the period, Eric Kane smashed home a rebound, growing the lead to 4-2 while simultaneously giving Ottawa the first two-goal lead of the game. Wynston Iserhoff and Clement Valette were credited with assists on the play.
The assist brought Valette’s scoring streak to seven games. He leads the team with six goals and five assists in 12 games this season. His tenacity on the forecheck and intelligent play have been a big contributor for Ottawa during their torrid month of October.
With the two-goal lead, Ottawa leaned on its defense to keep the Bears off the scoresheet by defusing several high-danger chances at the end of the game. Goaltender Josh Scully had another solid game between the pipes, making 19 saves on 21 shots to pick up his seventh win of the season.
There will be no rest for the Jr Senators who play three games next week, starting with a Wednesday night matchup against the Kemptville 73’s, followed by back-to-back games against Renfrew and Pembroke on the weekend. The game against Kemptville is very important for Ottawa as a win would tie them with Kemptville for second while preserving its two games in hand.
“We’re the underdogs in that game,” said Grady. “We’re just going to go in there and hopefully we can compete with one of the top teams in this league.”
