Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Goals were like left over turkey for the Napanee Raiders this Thanksgiving weekend-they had plenty to spare as they picked up two wins to move to 8-0 on the season.
On Saturday night the Junior C hockey team outslugged the Port Hope Panthers 8-6 on the road after doubling up the visiting Amherstview Jets 8-4 the night before at the SPC.
Napanee held a 5-2 lead after the opening 20 minutes in Port Hope before surviving a bit of a bumpy landing on the way to closing out their eighth straight win. A three goal outburst in the second period allowed the Panthers to claw their way back into the game, whittling the Raider lead down to 6-5 heading into the final intermission.
Ryan Kidd gave the Raiders some much needed breathing room with a goal just shy of the midway mark of the period to push the lead to 7-5. It was a good thing for the visitors he did, because Port Hope’s Nolan Stevenson scored at 16:38 to once again bring the Panthers to within one. The comeback attempt would fizzle from there however and Napanee’s Soren Zamuner potted a huge insurance tally with two and a half minutes left in regulation to help secure the victory.
Alex Zamuner got the start between the pipes for Napanee and played the first two periods of the game, stopping 22 of 27. He gave way to Bailey Maracle to close it out in the third and he did the job, turning away nine of 10. Down at the other end of the rink Port Hope’s Sam Dingle played all 60 minutes, facing 54 shots on the night.
Scoring was spread around for Napanee with all eight goals from eight different sources. Nicholas Goosney, Ben Chubbs, Cameron Krupa, Reid Lambert and Noah Westwater also found the back of the net.
Fast starts were the theme of the weekend as on Friday night they also put up a crooked number in the first, scoring four unanswered goals, three of which in a span of 61 seconds.
The Jets were never able to climb out of that hole, scoring two in the second to cut the deficit in half only to watch the Raiders go on another 4-0 run. The Jets scored twice in the final five minutes of the game to get back to within four, but that was as close as they’d get. Maracle earned the win with 23 saves while his counterpart Tommy Rollin was peppered with 57 shots.
Once again the scoring was shared among eight skaters with Kidd, Chubbs, Maverick Labrie, Ben white, Adam Nuttall, Krupa, Lambert and Ben Carter all getting credited with a goal.
Next up for Napanee is their first meeting with the Campbellford Rebels of the year when they welcome them to the SPC on Friday night for a 7:30 start time. On Sunday they travel to Amherstview for a rematch with the Jets. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m. at the WJ Henderson Arena.
Napanee’s perfect record has them alone in first place of the Tod Division with 16 points, six up on the 5-3 Jets. The Picton Pirates are third with a 3-2 record (six points), with the Frankford Huskies in fourth with a 1-6 record (two points). Both the Panthers and the Rebels are winless on the year, though the Panthers have one point by virtue of an overtime loss in four contests. The Rebels are 0-2.