DARRYL KNIGHT The Standard
Looking to bounce back, after a pair of losses, the Uxbridge Bruins came into the game, on Friday, February 2nd, at the Bear Den, hopeful for an offensive spark.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, they had clearly found what they were looking for, after a 7-4 victory, over the North Kawartha Knights.
Newly-acquired Ryan Shier paced the Uxbridge offense early, scoring an unassisted goal, just 31 seconds into action, and adding another, with just over five minutes played, assisted by Tanner Ryan and Noah Button. The Knights would add a late goal, to cut the Bruins’ lead to 2-1, at the end of the opening period.
The teams traded goals in a back-and-forth second period. Less than four minutes into the middle frame, Evan Gilbert restored a two-goal lead, putting the home side ahead 3-1 before the Knights replied, just past the midway mark of the second. Shortly afterward, Gilbert netted his second of the evening, assisted by Anthony Lamanna. However, the two-goal lead wouldn’t last long, as North Kawartha scored again, before Ryan capped a busy stretch with his sixth goal of the season, giving Uxbridge a 5-3 advantage, after forty minutes.
The Knights scored just 46 seconds into the third period, to once again cut the Bruins’ lead to a single goal. But, that would be as close as the visitors would get, as Uxbridge lit the lamp twice more in the final frame, to seal the 7-4 win. Lamanna and Gavin Graham (shorthanded) scored for Uxbridge, in the third period. In goal, Andrew Claughton earned his 10th win of the campaign, after turning aside 22 shots from the Knights.
The Bruins were looking for back-to-back wins, to close out the weekend, as they made the trek to Keswick, on Sunday, February 4th, for a match-up against the Georgina Ice.
The third-place Bruins came into the game sitting nine points behind the Ice, in the Orr Division standings. But, at the end of the evening, the deficit had grown to 11 points, as the Bruins found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-0 shutout, giving them a split of their weekend games.
Loose Pucks:
- With nine game-winning goals on the season, Quinn Meek is tied for the overall lead in the PJHL, with Hanover’s Curtis Arnold and Mount Forest’s Brody Leblanc.
- A rivalry weekend is on tap for the Bruins, with the Little Britain Merchants visiting the Bear Den, on Friday, February 9th, at 7:45 p.m. Then, on Sunday, February 11th, the Bruins will make the move east, on Lake Ridge Road, to tangle with the Port Perry Lumberjacks, in a 2:25 matinee match-up, in the Battle of North Durham, at Scugog Arena.