by Romano Di Franco
The Nepean Raiders traveled to the Rockland Arena to play in Game 3 of their exhibition schedule as they faced off against the Hawkesbury Hawks. For the starting goalies, John Gedraitis was in net for the Raiders in the game. He had a record of 6-13-2 a year ago and Brett Ruddy got the call in goal for the Hawks.
The first period was all Raiders as Nicolas Papineau scored on the Powerplay with Maxime Charbonneau in the box. Luka Benoit who previously played for the Raiders during the 2022-23 season got the only assist. Josh Ceaser got the only other goal in the first period with Thomas Dickey and Peter Freel drawing the helpers. Nepean appeared to have had scored another goal when Nicolas Papineau had the Brett Ruddy beat, but the puck stayed out.
Nepean outshot the Hawks 7-5 in that first period.
The only goal in the second period came when Remi Gelinas scored on a deflection goal set up by Jacob Skoczylas. Brayden Besner got the only other helper. Nepean continued to fire on all cylinders in the shot department as the outshot the Hawkesbury Hawks 13-6, but Brett Rudy kept the Raiders at bay.
The Hawkesbury Hawks tied the game at two a piece when Brayden Besner scored right off the faceoff with Remi Gagne assisting on the goal. Nepean’s best chance in the third period came when Riley Streska appeared to have provided some insurance for the Raiders, but his goal was disallowed when it was determined that the puck was kicked into the net on a stick kicking motion.
With the game tied at two, the game did not have overtime, so it’s off to a shootout.
John Gedraitis was fantastic in the shootout when he stopped both Remi Gagne and Remi Gelinas. Josh Ceaser and Tyler Smith scored in the shootout for Nepean.
Overall, a competitive match with both teams creating plenty of chances. Nepean’s power play efficiency and shootout performance were key in clinching the victory.
The Raiders will have two more games which are both happening on Saturday, September 7th. The first is a 10:00AM puck drop against the Carleton Place Canadiens and the second which is a 6:00PM puck drop against the Rockland Nationals.
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