Bruins stay hot with weekend sweep as regular season nears end

DARRYL KNIGHT The Standard

It was a weekend to remember for the Uxbridge Bruins, who continued their late-season surge, with a pair of impressive wins, to extend their streak to six straight wins, as the Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) regular season winds down.

The Bruins capped things off, on Sunday afternoon, with a 4–2 road win over their North Durham rivals, the Port Perry LumberJacks, in the final Battle of North Durham of the 2025-26 campaign.

Uxbridge came out flying in the matinee matchup, striking three times in the opening period. Darin Bain opened the scoring, less than four minutes into the contest, finishing a setup from Luke Kemp and Ryan Shier. Jack Kemp made it 2–0, midway through the frame, before Josh Hall capped the burst, 31 seconds later, to give the Bruins a commanding 3–0 lead.

Port Perry got on the board in the second period, when Brady McPhail converted, almost eight minutes into the action, but Uxbridge restored its three-goal cushion late in the frame. Jordan Fitger buried a power-play marker, with just over two minutes remaining in the middle frame, with assists from Jack Kemp and Cameron Meek.

The LumberJacks pulled closer in the third, on a Dylan Leslie power-play goal, but that was as close as it would get. Robby DiMaria turned aside 23 shots, to secure the win between the pipes for Uxbridge.

The Sunday victory followed an emphatic 8–0 shutout of the Caledon Golden Hawks, on Friday night, at the Bear Den. Kevin Halloran was perfect in goal, stopping all 20 shots he faced.

Luke Kemp opened the scoring, late in the first period, before Jack Kemp added another, to send the Bruins into the intermission up 2–0. Uxbridge poured it on, in the second and third, with goals from Bain, Kyle Butt, Cameron Meek, Josh Hall, Ryan Shier and Tucker Roberts sealing the lopsided win. Hall and Shier both struck shorthanded, as part of a dominant final period.

Elsewhere around the PJHL, it was a tough weekend for the Little Britain Merchants, who dropped games to the Georgina Ice and the Caledon Golden Hawks.

The regular season wraps up this coming weekend, with a busy slate of games, including several Family Day matinees, on Monday, February 16th.

Little Britain faces a demanding four-game stretch. The Merchants are in Keswick, on Thursday night, to face Georgina. Then, they visit Uxbridge on Friday night, for a 7:45 p.m. puck drop, at the Bear Den. They return home Saturday night, to host Clarington, before heading to Bowmanville, on Monday afternoon, to close out the schedule.

Uxbridge hits the road to Caledon, on Saturday night, then travels to Keswick, for a Monday matinee against Georgina.

The Port Perry LumberJacks open their final week in Bowmanville, on Thursday night, against the Eagles, before finishing the season with two home games. Port Perry hosts Georgina, on Sunday afternoon, and wraps up the regular season, Monday at 2:25 p.m., against Caledon.