Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
Start printing the playoff tickets, the Napanee Raiders have officially secured a spot in the 2017-18 PJHL postseason.
With nearly two months to spare in the regular season as well.
Napanee clinched its spot with a 3-0 win over the fifth-place Gananoque Islanders, giving the Raiders 45 points on the year to Gananoque’s 12. Prior to Sunday’s win, the Raiders continued to turn the tables on the Port Hope Panthers, doubling up for a 6-3 win on home ice at the SPC.
Even if the Islanders were to miraculously win their remaining 15 games, they’d still fall short of Napanee. Meanwhile the Raiders will still have plenty to play for over their final 16 regular season games as they look to secure the top spot in the league and make a run at a franchise record for wins as well.
While the Raiders clinching a playoff spot is no shock, the competitive nature of Sunday’s game was somewhat of surprise. Napanee had outscored the Islanders by double digits in each of their previous three meetings this year.
Gananoque’s Josh Rowden was on his game in this one however, stopping 51 Raider shots in the losing effort.
He stopped 20 in the first period alone, only allowing Aidan Lawford-Wickham to beat him. Newly acquired Roman Cannell picked up an assist on the play. He adds another Junior A presence to the Raiders lineup, having skated with the Cumberland Grads last year. He was also named Hockey Eastern Ontario’s Midget AAA most valuable player in 2015-2016.
Justynn Steven potted a power-play goal early in the second and Devon King tapped another at the 5:29 mark for the game’s third and final goal. Jeremy Piazzi picked up the win, turning away 15 Islander scoring opportunities, giving him his league leading fourth shutout and pushing his record to 10-1.
Along with their 54 shots, the Raiders also had 11 power-play opportunities, but only converted on one of them. Their three goals scored was their lowest output since a 2-1 win back on Oct. 27, a span of 12 games.
Despite Friday’s final score of 6-3, it was a tense game until the Raiders scored a pair of insurance goals in the final minutes.
Nicholas Nabuurs leaves his net to play the puck as Port Hope’s Nathan Snoek pressures. (Adam Bramburger/staff)
Port Hope’s Cameron Harris opened the scoring 7:49 into the first, only to see Napanee’s Zach Knapp-Hermer respond just over a minute later.
The 1-1 score held until Austin Labelle notched a power-play goal at the 4:24 mark of the second. Ryan Casselman and Josh Murphy added late goals to put Napanee up 4-1 heading into the final intermission.
Napanee looked to be well on their way to victory until Port Hope’s Kallen McFarland and Nathan Snoek found the back of the net at 17:06 and 17:46 respectively.
Down just a goal with two minutes left, the Panthers pulled Sheldon Calbury in favour of an extra skater. Napanee was able to squash the threat and ice the win when Casselman flipped in an empty net goal. Murphy added a huge insurance tally with just 20 seconds left in the game, doing so while the Raiders were on the penalty-kill.
Nicholas Nabuurs earned the win, stopping 34 shots. It was a heavy-hitting affair, with Port Hope tallying 30 minutes of penalties on 11 infractions while Napanee had 38 minutes on 11 calls. With the win Napanee has now won four straight over the second place Panthers, who have long been a thorn in their side. Port Hope remains the only club to beat Napanee in regulation this season.
Napanee will look to extend its five-game winning streak on Friday when they welcome the Islanders to the SPC for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop. That game is also the club’s annual teddy bear toss night. Fans are encouraged to bring a stuffed animal to game and throw it on the ice when Napanee scores its first goal of the game. The toys will be donated to kids in need this holiday season. Next Tuesday, the Raiders travel to Campbellford to face the 0-26 Rebels. For the latest scores and stats from around the league, visit http://www.napaneebeaver.ca/2017/11/09/raiders-stats/.