Hot goaltender helps Leafs win thriller
Leafs 4 Oilers 3
A large fan contingent witnessed high speed hockey played at its finest last weekend. Both teams skated hard from start to finish with outstanding offensive action at each end of the rink. The Leafs jumped out to a quick lead when Jaylen Martin took a nice pass from Josh Lines in stride and threaded the needle past Oilers netminder Beckett Simmons. The lead was extended when Michael Betteto made a few nice moves, skating in from the right side and lofting a shot through five hole into the back of the net. Leaf's inspirational leader Mikey Daly closed out the first period scoring when he jumped on a loose ball in the corner, worked his way in front of the net and flicked a shot into the far corner of the net.
The Oilers kicked into high gear in the final period forcing much of the action. Laird Simmons put the Oilers on the board when he forcefully flew through an opening into the clear and backhanded a hard shot past Leafs goaltender Tommy Ruck. The Oilers continued to apply relentless pressure with lightning quick Adam Weech engineering three successive breakaways only to be thwarted each time by Ruck who made outstanding saves. Jordan Faries extended his scoring streak when he threaded a shot by Ruck from the left circle. Weech finally found some good luck on his forth breakaway wristing a shot past a sprawling Ruck to tie the game at three. The Oilers continued to press the action with Ruck blocking everything coming his way with a first star performance. The game clock was ticking down when smooth skating Matthew Betteto finished off a nice passing play between Taylor Ruck and Nicholas Hall blasting a rebound past Simmons to give the Leafs a hard fought victory.
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Canadiens 7 Senators 2
The Canadiens team, short on players as game time approached, signed Oilers star Adam Weech to a one game contract, much to the disappointment of the high flying Senators. Weech was the catalyst to the Canadiens victory as he opened the game with a natural hat-trick on his way to a four goal stellar performance.
He opened the scoring early in the game on a nice pass from Alex Rego, his continued improving performance has bolstered the Canadiens of late. It wasn't long before the Canadiens struck again to take a two goal lead. A hard wrist shot from the point by Weech found the mesh after Krishna Boodram won the faceoff and let Weech tee it up. The hard charging Senators tried to keep the Canadiens in check by applying some early pressure but Habs goalie Riley MacNeil made some soild stops early one in particular off his shoulder that flew over the boards. Ben Williams made some fine stops in goal for the Senators but it was not to be their day as the Canadiens added two more unanswered goals with Weech adding his third of the day assisted by Tyler MacNeil and Boodrum. Tyler MacNeil added mightily to the cause as he scored his first of three goals on the afternoon, roofing a shot in the top corner off a rebound after Weech was foiled by Williams on a breakaway. The Senators hit the scoresheet just before the end of the first period on a goal by shifty Cameron Neal assisted by Tadhg O'Shaugnessy. The period ended with the Canadiens up 4-1.The second opened with MacNeil adding his second with a blast into the left corner on a nice pass from swift skating Jaryd Lapointe and a second helper from Rego.
The Senators answered right back on a great goal by David Lehmann after being fed by Grenville Lines. Lehmann flew down the right wing and buried a wrist shot past MacNeil's glove side. Alex Griffin got in on the next play as he fed Weech who put the game out of reach with a fine goal that saw him elude two defenders and bust up the middle before blistering a low wrister past Williams. The game was all but over as MacNeil had a little icing on the cake as he completed his hat-trick on a nice feed from Conner Lohan and Weech who was the star of the game with a hand in six of the Canadiens' seven goals.
Exciting youth hockey action continues every Saturday at 1 p.m. behind the Pembroke Community Center at Admiralty Park.
