Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
A clash of red hot titans took place at the Strathcona Paper Centre on Friday night as the Tod Division’s top ranked Napanee Raiders took on the Orr Division’s best Lakefield Chiefs.
Napanee would come away victorious, skating to a hard fought 4-1 victory.
Both teams entered on a winning streak, the Chiefs having won their previous seven, the Raiders unbeaten in their previous five.
Despite both teams packing the top offense in each of their divisions, it was goaltending that stole the show through much of the first two periods.
Napanee’s Nicholas Nabuurs traded zeroes with Lakefield’s Michael Christie through the first period and deep into the second.
Christie was the first to blink, surrendering the game’s first goal to Evan Foley on the power-play with just 1:29 to go in the second period. Cameron Harris and Brodie Maracle picked up assists.
Napanee rode that momentum into the third when Harris potted a goal just 50 seconds into the final period. Dayton Kent and Foley picked up the assists.
Lakefield’s Dalton Smith responded unassisted just 40 seconds later to cut the lead to 2-1.
Each team continued to trade chances until Cullen Hinds scored a huge insurance goal at 12:07, with help from Bailey Matthews. Nabburs shut the door from there and Ryan Casselman iced the win with an empty net goal in the final seconds for the 4-1 win. Reid Humphrey was credited with an assist.
Lakefield’s Michael Christie attempts a glove save. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
Nabburs finished the night with 33 saves while Christie finished the night with 41. Shots were mostly even through the first and third, but in the second the Raiders dominated control while outshooting the visitors 19-9 en route to breaking through with the first goal of the game.
Napanee was 1-4 on the power-play while the Chiefs were shutout on all three of their opportunities.
For Lakefield, the loss was the first for the reigning Schmalz Cup champions since Opening Night, dropping their record to 7-2 on the year.
Napanee meanwhile has now won four straight to improve to 7-1-1 on the year. Napanee has scored 60 goals in their first nine games while Lakefield has found the back of the net 53 times. The Chiefs do hold a slight edge in goal prevention, allowing 14 compared to 16 for Napanee.
Last week was a bit of a light week for the Raiders as Friday was their only action. They will return to the ice on Friday when they welcome the 0-8 Campbellford Rebels to the SPC. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
On Sunday they travel to Gananoque for their first look at the Islanders this season. The Islanders are 3-5-1 thus far into their schedule.
With 15 points the Raiders hold a four point lead in the standings over both the 5-3-1 Amherstview Jets and the 5-3-0-1 Picton Pirates. The Islanders are fourth with seven points, the 1-7 Port Hope Panthers fifth with two points and the winless Rebels sit last.