Carleton Place, Ontario – The Ottawa Jr. Senators recorded a 2-1 victory over the Carleton Place Canadians on Wednesday night at the Carleton Place Arena.
Ottawa now takes a 2-1 series lead, and are two wins away from their second straight Bogart Cup.
OJS scored first for the first time in this series. Conor Smart netted his playoff leading seventh goal when he was fed a pass in front by Geoff Dempster. Then Elie Boulerice scored after he threw the puck on net for his first of the playoffs. Ottawa had a 2-0 lead heading into the third.
David Poirier cut into the Canadians deficit, scoring from the left-circle. Francis Boisvert would shut the door in the third, making 11-saves and 19-saves on the night.
Ottawa Jr. Senators Head Coach Martin Dagenais says that getting off to a good start was key.
“Getting the first one, especially in a rink like CP is a bonus, but I thought we were really good in the first 40-minutes. It was all us in the second and I thought we didn’t give them much in the last 10-minutes of the third. It was just a very emotional game.”
The Jr. Senators had to kill two penalties in the third period and five in total. Dagenais said that their penalty-kill was huge.
“The PK was not good in Game One, so we made some adjustments. Assistant Coach Jamie Mayo did a great job with the adjustments to the PK and it paid off.”
After Game Two, Martin Dagenais said that his top players were invisible, but said they were much better in Game Three.
“I thought the best line was Elie Boulerice, Darcy Walsh and Kyle Jackson because they competed and that was the big difference. They weren’t waiting for the puck, they were going after the puck. Jackson was physical, Walsh was in everyone’s face and Bouly (Boulerice) was Bouly. I’m happy he scored that goal because he’s been working his butt off.”
Ottawa improves to 7-5 in Carleton Place over the last five years and 6-0 on the road this post-season.
Game Four will be in Ottawa on Friday night where the Jr. Sens will look to take a 3-1 series lead.
