Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Napanee Raiders’ goaltending duo of Logan Vale and Denholm Blair combined to post back-to-back shutouts as the club continues to stay hot down the PJHL home stretch.
On Jan. 31 Vale blanked the Picton Pirates 4-0 on home ice while Blair was perfect in a 6-0 road win against the Port Hope Panthers.
Offense was spread around in the victory over the Panthers as Reid Lambert, Michael Patrick, Christos Chronis, Jackson Barnes, Ben White and Erik MacNiel all found the back of the net. MacNiel, Eric Taher and Trent Williams each recorded two assists on the evening.
Blair had a relatively quiet night in net as the defense limited the Panthers to 11 shots in the game. Napanee meanwhile fired 34 pucks at Brayden Friedrich, who allowed all six goals in the losing effort.
At home against the Pirates it was once again a balanced attack as Barnes, White, Chronis and Lambert each had a goal in the 4-0 victory.
The game was much closer than the final score may indicate as Napanee held just a 1-0 lead after the opening 20 minutes, and didn’t score their second goal until the midway point of the second frame. A last second, short-handed goal gave the Raiders a 3-0 advantage heading into the final intermission. Lambert sealed the win with an empty-netter with just over three minutes left to play.
Vale turned away 19 shots to earn the shutout. Picton’s Nolan Lane absorbed the loss, stopping 37 of 40.
The pair off victories mean the Raiders have clinched no worse than a second place finish in the East Tod Division, with 60 points in 38 games played. They have just four remaining on the regular season.
Napanee has a four point lead on the Frankford Huskies, though the Huskies do have two games in hand on the Raiders.
While the Huskies could still pass Napanee for first, the other teams have run of games. Picton has 53 points with just two games remaining while the Amherstview Jets have 50 points with five games remaining.
Napanee will continue their push for the top seed on Friday when they host the Trent Hills Thunder (formerly the Campbellford Rebels) at the Best and Bash Arena. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m. On Feb. 8 they travel to North Kawartha-the team that would serve as their first round opponent in the playoffs should they clinch first. The last place Knights have just six points in 38 games played.
If the Raiders slipped to second, they would open the playoffs against the Thunder who have fared slightly better than the last place squad, earning 16 points, doing mostly as the expense of head-towhead games with the Knights.