by Romano Di Franco
The Nepean Raiders got the monkey off their back with a 5-3 win on the road at the Ed Lumley Arena in Cornwall.
The Raiders went in to Thursday’s action on a six-game losing streak dating back to January 18. They scored five goals for the second time this season en route to a convincing win in a bit of a see-saw battle with the Cornwall Colts. After getting off to a 2-0 lead on goals by Alex Rossides and Matt McQuade the Raiders found themselves down 3-2 when Cornwall struck back with goals by Charlie Campbell, Matthew Toporowski, and Emerick Nadeau.
The Cornwall lead would be short-lived as Evan Boucher tied it just two minutes and 35 seconds later. Beau Binnie scored the game winner just ninety seconds after that and the Raiders never looked back.
Tyler Laureault got the start in goal and turned away 40 of the 43 shots he faced on the night. He had a save percentage of 0.930 and registered his second point of the season. With the Cornwall net empty, the puck found it’s way in behind the Nepean net and Tyler Laureault had time to corral the puck and take a shot on goal. He lifted the puck out past the blue line where it was knocked down and Patrick Larkin sent it the rest of the way into the vacated Cornwall net. Laureault channeled Nashville Predator goalie Pekka Rinne as he made a deliberate attempt to shoot the puck the entire length of the ice.
The Raiders were playing the role of spoiler and put a dent in the Cornwall Colts playoff hopes.
Beau Binnie was named the game’s first star with a goal and an assist. Tyler Laureault got the nod as the third star and that was the thirteenth time this year he has been bestowed the honour. Matthew Toporowski had a goal and assist for Cornwall and was named the second star.
The Raiders next game is Friday, February 7 as they visit the Brockville Memorial Centre to take on the Brockville Braves for a 7:30pm puck drop.
