Tim Ruhnke – Recorder & Times
The team that needed the win more came through.
The Hawkesbury Hawks kept their post-season hopes alive by scoring five unanswered goals and defeating the visiting Brockville Braves 6-2 on Wednesday night. The Jr. A Braves remain tied with Renfrew for seventh in the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) standings, one point up on Carleton Place. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season in mid-March advance to the playoffs.
With the victory, 10th-place Hawkesbury is now six points behind Brockville and Renfrew with six games to go.
The Hawks scored first at home Wednesday. Carter Graves gave Hawkesbury the lead at 4:37 of the opening period.
Braves captain Kayden Buller tied the game at 8:14; it was his 18th goal of the season.
Shots were even at 13 in the first 20 minutes.
Brockville went ahead at 5:47 of the second period when Ryan McNally scored an unassisted short-handed goal. He now has 17 goals on the year.
Still on the power play, though, the Hawks made it 2-2, 22 seconds later, on a goal from Xavier Lacoste.
The game remained tied until 2:06 of the third, when Tommy Anderson scored what would be the game-winner on a power play. A short-handed goal by Arthur Lalonde at 7:27 gave the Hawks a two-goal advantage, which was padded less than a minute later when Josh Agnese scored. A goal by Ben Lacoste 70 seconds later put the game out of reach.
Hawkesbury outshot Brockville 36-13 in the second and third periods.
Dylan Michelow picked up the win in net for the Hawks. Austin Caley started in goal for the Braves; Nate Galbraith came in in relief after the sixth goal.
Marc-Olivier Lauzon, who racked up three assists, was named first star. Second and third stars went to Lacoste and McNally.
Brockville remains one point behind the sixth-place Cornwall Colts; they’ve played five more games than the Braves. Cornwall hosts last-place Pembroke on Thursday night.
Brockville (20-20-2-4) will host Carleton Place on Friday night at 7:30; the Canadians trail Brockville and Renfrew by one point. Carleton Place’s five remaining games are against teams that do not have winning records. Five of the Braves’ nine games are against teams with winning records: regular-season champion Rockland, the second-place Smiths Falls Bears (three games in 11 days ) and the Kemptville 73’s.
Original Story at Recorder.ca
