Jonathon Brodie – Recorder & Times
Well, it was a nice homecoming for the Brockville Braves.
The Braves returned to the Memorial Centre on Friday after almost a month away from their home arena. The nasty weather postponed Brockville’s previous home game and transportation issues cancelled a date before that. Mix the CCHL’s two-week holiday hiatus on top of it all and Brockville’s most recent game was their first at the Memorial Centre since Dec. 22, but in Friday’s 3-2 win against the Kanata Lasers it didn’t look like much could hold the Braves back.
After the game Braves coach Jesse Winchester described it as one of his team’s best recent performances. That’s saying something considering Brockville had beaten the Smiths Falls Bears 8-1 and the Navan Grads 7-3 in their previous two games.
“We played better tonight than we did against Navan and Smiths Falls and the six we put up against Nepean (when they lost in overtime). We just competed the right way and we had to because we knew the opponent we were facing was top-notch. They’re for real and just keep coming at you,” Winchester said.
The Braves came out of the gates hot with a pair of goals just 21 seconds apart within four minutes of the opening puck drop. Philippe Gilmour scored the first one with a pretty move, while Christophe Cote picked up the second goal with persistence.
To the Lasers credit, when things got tough they never let it get out of hand and Kanata managed to weather the storm before they created some turbulence of their own with back-to-back power play goals near the end of the second period.
Mike McArthur scored the game-winner just over a minute into the third period by slapping the puck in mid-air with his stick.
“That was our best start in a really long time. Usually our second period is our best period, but tonight it flip-flopped. Our second was tough because of the amount of penalties we took,” Winchester said. “We responded in the third and got a nice goal and just battled. We found a way to get it done and it feels pretty good.”
There is a good chance the Braves and Lasers could meet in the first round of the playoffs as they are currently amidst a battle along with the Hawkesbury Hawks and Cornwall Colts for the third to sixth spots in the standings. If the playoffs were to start today then Brockville and Kanata would open the post-season against each other, based on winning percentage.
Friday’s matchup was a fast-paced game that showed more skill — which both teams clearly have — than any major playoff bite to it involving heavy hits and chippy behaviour. It was, however, a nice teaser as to what could be when mid-March comes around.
“We know we’re either going to face most likely Cornwall, Hawkesbury or Kanata (in the playoffs) and we play all three of those teams quite a bit from here on out and those are the best games to play and the guys love it,” Winchester said. The Braves play the Hawks three more times, the Lasers twice, and the Colts once.
On Friday Brockville showed off what is looking to be their biggest strength since adding Michael Locatelli and Eric Faith at the trade deadline. They proved they have depth, and they’re still waiting for Tyson Kirkby and Andrew Jarvis to return from injury.
Winchester rolled out all four of his forward lines pretty evenly all night. The coach was rewarded with goals from his first, second and fourth lines. He credited his third line — which consists of Mathieu Halle, Joshua Spratt, and Nicolas Vlahos — as being the team’s best group on a consistent basis since Jan. 7.
The Braves will try to go for their fourth consecutive win next Friday when they host the Kemptville 73s.
Original Story at Recorder.ca
