One win and two losses in three-game weekend for Junior C Otters

The Junior C Otters hacked out three games straight last weekend, starting it off with a home-ice win against the Penetang Kings on Friday, November 10.

Coach Brent Tomlinson thought the game had many positives. “I thought it was one of our best performances of the year. Defensively, we played extremely well by limiting the Kings to under 30 shots. Offensively, we had one of our higher outputs of the season, with a six-goal night.”

The Otters came out hard and held the Kings at bay after Penetang put a puck in the net in the first period.

The second period had Otters fans on the edge of their seats as the Otters scored three goals to pull ahead. AJ Campbell #25, assisted by Dryden Rivet #22 and Cole Gilligan #16, found the net first. The second and third goals came within seconds of each other, with Captain Nathan Delarosbil #19, assisted by Michael Kruger #6 and Tye Sterne #8, leading the way, followed quickly by a shot past the Kings goalie by George Wood #29, assisted by Quinn Thompson #7.

In the third period, the Otters secured three more goals to keep their strong lead, including an empty net shot. First, Jack Armstrong #9, assisted by Connor Small #28, found the back of the Kings net. Then AJ Campbell #25 scored his second goal of the night, assisted by Cole Gilligan #16. After Penetang pulled their goalie, Nathan Delarosbil #19, assisted by Matt Priest #12, dumped it down the ice into the empty net. Fans were on their feet to celebrate the certain Otters win. Coach Gagnon agreed with the crowd: “Everyone was rolling on that one.”

The Jr C Otters celebrate one of six goals against the Penetang Kings on November 10

In a back-to-back match up, the Otters met the Kings again for a second game on Saturday, November 11 in Penetang, this time with a 2-5 loss.

“This rink (in Penetang) is simply tough to play in,” said Coach Tomlinson. “Coming from the big ice in Huntsville, it takes some time to adjust to the smaller surface.”

The Otters came out after Friday night’s win hoping for a repeat, but fell short as “we were not the more physical team on this night and again we got ourselves into penalty trouble,” said Tomlinson. “The outcome was reflected on the score board.” Both teams contributed to more than 10 penalties each.

Coach Gagnon praised the teams’ efforts in Saturday’s game. “Very proud of our defense as they are really playing and executing the systems. Also, very proud of our penalty kill, as it had shut down 28 in a row prior to Sunday’s game.”

The Otters’ third game of the weekend, at home against the Alliston Hornets, was a difficult one. With two full games under their skates, it was hard to find the strength to play hard against Alliston. “Sunday’s game was a tough one as the team was fatigued, but battled hard the first period before Alliston took over,” said Gagnon.

The Otters lost 1-8, with the lone goal scored by defenseman Quinn Thompson #7, assisted by Nathan Delarosbil #19 and Ermi Mulatu #11. The loss wasn’t for lack of trying, however, as the team took 28 shots on the Alliston net but there seemed to be a scrimmage every time the teams got close to one another’s net.

The Otters coaches were proud of their players. “Although we didn’t get as many wins as we wanted this weekend, we are still proud of the group,” said Tomlinson. “Defensively, we have seen great improvement, particularly with our penalty kill which has been extremely impressive as of late. Although the power play hasn’t been able to find the back of the net, we are starting to see some improvements within our structure, so all we can do is continue to work at it.”

Cheer on your Junior C Otters at their next home game against the Schomberg Cougars on Friday, November 17. The puck drops at 8 p.m.

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