NEPEAN, ON – The Nepean Raiders and Renfrew Wolves battled in the back-half of a home-and-home series that saw the Wolves skate away with an 8-2 victory just one day earlier.
Sebastian Resar (14-7-1-1, 2.95 GAA, 0.907 SV%) got the start in goal for Renfrew while Luca Sandu (5-9-1, 4.23 GAA, 0.898 SV %) was between the pipes for Nepean.
The Raiders had the first chance of the game when Jordan Graham sprung Jacob Dupont on a 2-on-1 with Anthony Rivard. Dupont sent a tape-to-tape pass on Rivard’s stick but he was tripped up by Zach Choueiri before he could get a clean shot away.
Nepean did not have to wait long as they opened the scoring after Owen Hardy blocked a shot in the Raiders end and tool the puck all the way down to the Renfrew goal before dishing the puck off to Luke Posthumus who had no problem tucking the puck into the empty left-hand side of the net vacated by Resar who was anticipating a shot by Hardy. Quinn Beauchesne picked up his first point in the CCHL with the other helper.
Renfrew tied the score with about five minutes left to go in the period on a blast by Trent Scullion who one-timed a Tyson Phare pass Alexander Ovechkin-style beating Sandu five-hole.
After 20 minutes the score was deadlocked at 1-1 despite Renfrew outshooting Nepean 13-4.
Elvis Slack gave Renfrew the lead with his 22nd goal of the season tying him with Navan Grad Owen Parsons for third spot in the CCHL goal race.
Jackson Barnes tied the score at 2-2 with a knuckle-ball shot that fluttered over Resar. The goal was set up by Joshua Reid with a pass from Gretzky’s office. Owen Hardy had the other helper on the play.
The middle frame saw Renfrew outshoot Nepean 22-14 but the pesky Raiders kept pace through 40 minutes.
The see-saw game had the Wolves taking the lead again in the third period after a strange bounce off the back boards deflected off Sandu where Brendan Waivada was there to tuck it home to make it 3-2 Wolves.
The lead was short-lived though as Curtiss Sturgeon responded for Nepean to make it 3-3. Jack Matsukubo pounced on a rebound off a point-shot from Tristan Caldwell and backhand passed the puck to Sturgeon who shovelled it by a prone Resar.
Joey Kennelly, fresh off his hat-trick performance the night before, restored Renfrew’s lead on a goal-mouth scramble after Sandu made the first two saves but could not make the third to give the visitors a 4-3 lead. Elvis Slack then picked up his second of the game to give Renfrew their first two-goal lead of the game finishing off an excellent feed by Tyson Tomasini.
With time ticking down, the Raiders pulled Sandu for the extra attacker. Trent Scullion thought he had scored an empty netter to ice the game but Tomasini was a mile offside and the goal was waived off. The Raiders had one last chance when Scullion was booked for Slashing to give Nepean a PowerPlay with 40 seconds left in the game. They came up empty though and Renfew left town with a 5-3 victory.
Elvis Slack (2G | 2A) was named the game’s first star. Tyson Tomasini (3A) picked up second star honours and Jackson Barnes (1G) got the nod as the game’s third star.
Owen Hardy (2A) was named hardest working Raider.
Nepean’s next game is on Thursday, January 19 as they visit the Ed Lumley Arena to take on the Cornwall Colts for a 7:30pm puck drop.
Be sure to Subscribe, Like and Comment on the official Nepean Raiders YouTube channel.
