Jonathon Brodie – Recorder & Times
If Friday’s game is what the Brockville Braves are supposed to look like from here on out then they should be feeling pretty good right now.
The Braves pulled out a huge win and they did it against a Kanata Lasers team they could very well meet in the first-round of the playoffs.
Brockville was ahead 4-0 before the first period was over. By the final horn they extended their lead to five goals.
To be fair to Kanata they were playing their third game in as many days and were up against a quality opponent in each of those matchups with the Hawkesbury Hawks, Cornwall Colts and then they finished with the Braves.
The trade deadline has passed and there are no more moves for Brockville to make since adding Michael Locatelli and Eric Faith. Braves captain Andrew Jarvis was coming back from an injury after a roughly three-week layoff, while Tyson Kirkby returned from an almost two-month hiatus because of a hand injury.
Barring another injury sidelining a starter, Friday’s lineup is likely what the Braves will look like in March when the playoffs roll around.
Mathieu Halle showed his hard work and grit with back-to-back goals in less than six minutes of the opening puck drop.
Eric Holland scored a pair of his own later in the first period, starting with a shorthanded marker and then followed it up less than five minutes later on a 4-on-4 situation.
“Our goal was to jump on them, not necessarily score but we’re lucky we did, and then dictate the pace for awhile,” said Braves coach Jesse Winchester.
The offensive burst slowed in the second period for the Braves, but the damage was already done and Brockville was solid defensively by making sure there were no easy chances in front of their own net. Braves Justin Evenson earned his second shutout of the season and made 33 saves.
Holland completed the hat-trick in the third period while on the man-advantage with a tic-tac-toe play that went from Mike McArthur to Jonathan Hill and ended with Holland. The goal meant Holland scored in three different situations — shorthanded, 4-on-4, and on the power play.
Kanata goalie Gabriel Carriere, 17, has been very strong and reliable throughout his CCHL rookie campaign, posting an 18-6-3 record and an .917 save percentage. Friday’s game was the first time he’s been chased out of the net this season, allowing three goals on nine shots and lasting a little less than 10 minutes. Although Carriere has been a huge bright spot for the Lasers since getting traded by the Ottawa Jr. Senators in November, he’s had a tough time against the Braves for most of the season. After earning a shutout against Brockville in his-ever junior hockey game, two of Carriere’s losses in regulation have come against the Braves and he’s picked up an .867 save percentage in his last three games against them.
“They dummied us two games in their barn,” said Winchester, his team now holding a 3-2 record against the Lasers this season. “We’ve played them well at home and both games, this one and the last, (Kanata has) been on back-to-backs. They’re a good team and we’ve played well, but there’s a lot of work to be done.”
Brockville will be hoping that Friday’s win is a good start to a long month that sees them suit up for 12 more games.
Winchester said he plans to mix and match lineups for most of February to see what combinations work best leading into the playoffs.
The new-look Braves had Kirkby, Locatelli, and Nicholas Hawkins on the third line. A few weeks ago that would have been a sure-top-six-line for them, so it seems the depth is there for Brockville to create a wide variety of different combinations.
“I think we have a pretty deep group and now that we have a full lineup it’s now about trying to find our best lineup,” said Winchester. “I want to be confident we’re icing our best lineup come March and we’ll work to do that.”
The Braves will travel to Rockland to take on the Nationals on Sunday before returning home to host the Cornwall Colts at 8:30 p.m. in a rare Monday night home matchup that is a make-up game that was postponed due to weather in January.
Original Story at Recorder.ca
