Uxbridge Bruins sweep weekend with wins over Lumberjacks and Knights

DARRYL KNIGHT The Standard

Heading into the holiday break, the Uxbridge Bruins are rolling through the competition in the Provincial Junior Hockey League’s Orr Division, having won four of their past five games after posting victories over the Port Perry Lumberjacks and North Kawartha Knights this past weekend.

The Bruins opened the weekend with a Battle of North Durham against the Lumberjacks at the Bear Den, on Friday, December 15th. Both sides came into the game looking for the advantage in the season series between the archrival clubs, with Uxbridge skating to a 3-1 at home on Friday, December 8th.

A crowd of almost 500 had the Bear Den rocking for the latest match-up in one of the great rivalries in junior hockey and the Bruins did not disappoint early, skating to a 3-0 lead in the first period behind goals from Jack Davis, Ty Roberts and Luke El-Ayari.

Just 48 seconds into the second period, the Lumberjacks lit up the scoreboard with a shorthanded goal. But, the Bruins bounced back with goals from Owen Shier and Quinn Meek to push their lead to four goals. The Lumberjacks would close the gap late in the middle frame, but the Bruins still took a commanding 5-2 lead into the dressing room ahead of the third period.

The Lumberjacks would make things interesting in the final frame, scoring twice to draw to within a goal and set up a frantic finish to the action. But, that was as close as they would get as newly-acquired goaltender Christian Lambert made several sensational saves down the stretch to preserve a 5-4 Uxbridge victory.

There was little time for the Bruins to rest, however, as they headed out on the road on Saturday night for a match-up with the North Kawartha Knights, in Apsley.

Nolan Winter scored just over two minutes into the action to give Uxbridge an early lead. But, the Knights would storm back to score twice before the horn sounded to end the first period and took a 2-1 lead into the dressing room.

Goals from Mark Sifri and Anthony Lamanna pushed the Bruins to a 3-2 lead in the second period. With just under six minutes remaining in the third, Winter notched his second of the night, and it would prove to be the game winner, as Knights captain Jow Boice scored late in the game. But once again, the Bruins came up with the clutch defensive plays the needed to take home a 4-3 win over North Kawartha.

Loose Pucks:

- Former Bruins GM Mark Savery was recently hired as the GM of the Knights.

- Uxbridge completed a trade with Georgina last week, sending goalie Matthew Czalij to the Ice in exchange for 2006-born goaltender Christian Lambert, who continued his strong rookie season posting back-to-back wins for Uxbridge.

- This weekend, Uxbridge will host the Clarington Eagles at the Bear Den at 7:45 p.m. As a special holiday treat, Santa Claus will be taking a break from his duties at the North Pole to take in the game as a special guest of the Bruins.