Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Much like an old wood stove, the Napanee Raider offense needed a little time to stoke the embers before the offense could really get rocking in back-to-back victories this weekend.
In both Friday’s home game against the Frankford Huskies and Saturday’s road game in Campbellford the Raiders over came slow starts to ride the strength of three goals over the final 20 minutes to secure the win. On Friday it was a 5-1 win over the Huskies followed by a 6-3 triumph over the Rebels.
On Saturday the Raiders found themselves knotted at 3-3 heading into the final 20 minutes.
Ben Chubbs had gotten the Raiders on the board 6:09 into the first with his sixth of the season while Ben Carter scored twice-once at the 11:31 mark of the first and again 14:46 into the second period. Colby Turcott had one in the first for the Rebels while Benny Scarr and Jett Butler scored just under a minute apart late in the second to get the home side back to even heading into the final intermission.
That tie score held until just shy of the midway point of the third when Logan White scored the all-important go ahead goal for Napanee. Noah Westwater tacked on a huge insurance goal at 13:37 before White sealed the win with an empty net goal in the final two minutes.
Bailey Maracle picked up the win, turning away 33 Rebel shots. Cameron Hansen took the loss, finishing with 43 saves. Napanee was 2-for-8 on the power-play while the Rebels went 1-for-3.
Friday night at home it was much the same as the expansion Huskies made the Raiders sweat for 40 minutes before fading in the third.
White scored just 18 seconds into the game and it appeared as though the first place Raiders were going to make quick work of the bottom-feeding Huskies.
Napanee’s Maverick Labrie and Frankford’s Carter Musclow battle for the air borne puck during Friday’s game at the SPC. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
The visitors were able to shake off the slow start and make a game of it as Phoenix Smith scored at 10:11 of the first to tie it at 1-1, where it stayed heading into the first flood.
Napanee again used a quick-strike offense in the second as Chubbs scored 36 seconds after the opening draw. Though that goal would hold as the game winner, the 2-1 lead remained unchanged until the third when Matthew Sheehy scored 1:12 into the frame. Carter added another at 4:36 before White rounded out the scoring with his second of the game at 6:13.
Mitch Bown makes a save. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
Mitch Bown earned the win, facing just 15 pucks the entire game. His counterpart Hayden Candler was much busier, turning aside 33 shots in the losing effort.
The Huskies were shutout on their four man-advantages while the Raiders converted on one of their two.
The two wins were a nice rebound for the Raiders after suffering their first loss of the season to the Jets a week prior.
They’ll look to continue their winning ways this week though the competition figures to be much stiffer. On Friday they’ll welcome the Picton Pirates to the SPC for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop. On Sunday they travel to Amherstview for a re-match with the Jets, also with a 7:30 p.m. start time.
Napanee is now 12-1 on the season, four points up on the 10-2 Jets (24 points to 20). The Pirates are third at 7-6, one point ahead of the 6-6-1 Port Hope Panthers (14 points to 13). The Rebels are fifth at 3-8 (six) while the Huskies are yet to win in 14 games, but have gone to overtime twice to earn two points.