Braves edge Colts, host Renfrew Friday night – Recorder & Times

From left, Colin Elliott of Brockville and Nolan Gagnon of Cornwall interact near Colts goalie Dax Easter during the Braves' 4-3 road win on Thursday, Feb. 2.

Tim Ruhnke – Recorder & Times

The captain came through with the winning goal.

Lucas Culhane gave the visiting Brockville Braves a two-goal lead in the third period of their Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) game in Cornwall Thursday night. The Braves managed to hang on and edge the Colts 4-3.

Jake Laville had opened the scoring at 15:53 of the first period. His eighth goal of the season – a power-play marker – gave Brockville a 1-0 lead. Justin Ouellette evened the score 49 seconds before intermission.

Kobe Tallman made it 2-1 for Cornwall at 13:11 of the second period. The Braves drew even at 1:31 of the third on Kyle Powers’ seventh goal of the year. Matt Yeager gave the visitors a 3-2 lead at 6:56; it was his 10th goal of the season.

Culhane’s 16th goal of the campaign made it 4-2. Not long after Colts goalie Dax Easter went to the bench, Caden Eaton cut the lead in half with 1:24 to go in regulation. Cornwall had the extra attacker on the ice for almost one minute at the end of the final frame but was unable to score the equalizer.

Brockville had the edge in shots 28-27. Sami Molu, CCM Hockey’s CCHL Goalie of the Month, picked up the win in net for the Braves. Easter, who is from Brockville, made 24 saves for the Colts.

Yeager, Powers and Tallman were named first, second and third stars respectively.

The Braves (19-15-4-1) remain in seventh place in the 12-team CCHL but are now six points up on eighth-place Cornwall (17-19-1-2).

The top eight teams at the end of the 55-game regular season advance to the quarter-finals in mid-March.

Brockville will host the sixth-place Renfrew Wolves (22-12-1-2) at the Memorial Centre on Friday night at 7:30.

Original Story at Recorder.ca