Balanced scoring, a wall of
stingy defence, and two quality goaltending performances have the Owen Sound
Canadian Tire Jr. Attack Tykes perched atop the Georgian Bay Minor Hockey
League Novice C playoff standings.
Maddox Burgess and Hunter Stewart both scored twice and Bennett Carr and Nolan Edmonstone each had a goal and an assist to lift the Tykes to a 6-1 win over the Creemore Valley Hawks at the Bayshore on Saturday.
With the win, Owen Sound improves to 2-0 in the six-game round-robin while Creemore now faces a steep hill to climb by falling to 0-2.
Jaren Pirie (2), Brian Corbett (2), Jacob Gole, Percey Roney, Michael Smith and Keltan Berner also chipped in with helpers to provide Owen Sound with 10 different players on the scoresheet.
“The kids came out ready to start the game today and played hard for the entire 35 minutes,” said Jr. Attack head coach Rick Corbett. “Several of our players built off the more aggressive puck possession game that we had to play in the outdoor tournament last weekend and played their best game of the season to date.”
Goaltenders Ryan Cooke and Alyssa Barnard were both sharp in the win. The Jr. Attack netminding tandem has now surrendered only two goals in as many playoff games.
Despite carrying much of the play and outchancing Creemore by a large margin for the opening two periods, the Tykes found the visiting Valley Hawks still hanging around in a scoreless game heading into the final 15 minutes.
And Creemore can thank their goaltender Sawyer Lammle for that.
Lammle turned aside countless Owen Sound scoring chances in the first two periods, including a breakaway stop in the opening minute.
“Once again our goaltenders held us in the game until we could score a few,” said Corbett. “Their goalie also stood on his head or the game could have been a high scoring one.”
Carr finally solved the stalwart Creemore netminder, and opened the floodgates in the process, when he drove hard to the side of the Valley Hawks net and potted a rebound off an Edmonstone blast only 42 seconds into the final frame. Edmonstone and Gole picked up the assists.
Only one shift later, Burgess accepted a pass from Pirie in front and fired a shot past Lammle to put Owen Sound ahead by two. Corbett also pitched in with a helper on the play.
With just over 11 minutes remaining in the contest, the Carr-Edmonstone-Roney line was at it again, providing Owen Sound with a 3-0 advantage when Edmonstone found some open ice and rifled it into the Creemore cage.
Less than a minute later, it was the Smith-Stewart-McMillan line's turn to get in on the act.
Breaking free after accepting a pass from Smith at centre ice, Stewart made no mistake on a breakaway opportunity to supply the Tykes with a comfortable 4-0 lead.
Creemore's Ike Nicholson finally found the back of the Owen Sound net with under seven minutes to play, but Stewart, from defenceman Berner, restored the Jr. Attack’s four-goal lead by burying his own rebound following an initial breakaway stop by Lammle for his second of the game.
Burgess, with his second tally of the game, then rounded out the Owen Sound scoring splurge when he received a pass in the slot from Corbett and hesitated just long enough to place the puck up and over the outstretched Creemore goaltender. Pirie chipped in with the other assist.
The six goals scored by Owen Sound, who appear to be peaking at the right time, was a season game high.
“If the kids can keep playing as a team and passing the puck like we did this game," Corbett said, "we should be able to compete with all our remaining opponents."
With top spot in the Novice C round-robin standings on the line, the Tykes (2-0) will take their unbeaten playoff record on the road to face the Coldwater Wildcats (1-0-1) on Sunday afternoon. Game time is 4 p.m.
In other GMBHL news, the Collingwood Blackhawks (0-0-2) and Shelburne Wolves (0-1-1) played to a scoreless tie on Saturday.