PORT HAWKESBURY: Tonight, the Junior Pirates will take to the ice for the first of two games that could make them the number three team in the Sid Rowe Division of the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League (NSJHL).
“We’re in a situation where we play twice in Cumberland, and they’re in as much of a must-win situation as we are,” said Pirate coach David Marston, who will lead the guys to the Dr. Carson and Marion Murray Community Centre in Springhill both tonight and Friday.
“That’s a lot of pressure, but we’re ready for it.”
The Pirates currently sit in the NSJHL’s last place with 26 points, but tight clustering in their division means they could still rebound to reach second, a spot currently held by the Antigonish Bulldogs with 33 points.
The Pirates have six games remaining, with the Blues, Bulldogs, and Glace Bay Miners all set to play the Strait twice before the end of the regular season. All those teams are in the Sid Rowe Division, making each game doubly important.
“Cumberland is a team we’ve been able to handle most of this season,” Marston said. “They’re a team that’s very reliant on one line, and if we can shut down that line then we should have a very good shot at winning both games.
“It’s hard to travel to Springhill on Wednesday and Friday, but the excuses don’t matter and the reasons why you might lose don’t matter. You just have to win. That’s the situation right now.”
The Pirates are coming off a weekend that saw them skate to a 2-1 overtime win on Friday and a 5-3 regulation time loss on Sunday. Both games were against the Bulldogs.
“Both were one-goal games [as the Sunday loss was 4-3 until an empty netter late in the third] that could have gone either way. It is what it is, unfortunately,” the coach said. “It took us to overtime to get it done, and they did it in regulation. Now, we’re a little behind the eight-ball, but we have home-and-home series with teams that are close in the standings.”
On Friday, Pirate goalie Matthew Stymest and Jesse Gillis, his counterpart in the Bulldog net, turned in very good performances. Stymest stopped 40 of 41 shots, and Gillis was also busy facing 35 shots.
The Pirates scored first, as Stephen Sisco (from Nathan Hayes) barged down the left wing and let a shot go from the top of the circle to beat Gillis with 5:02 left in the second. With just under five minutes played in the third, Connor Fraser (from Dylan MacLean) scored a Bulldog goal that ended up forcing overtime.
Randon MacKinnon (from Hayes) had the game winner at 1:59 of OT.
On Sunday, a three-goal second period led to the Bulldog win.
Brian MacDougall led the Bulldog efforts with a goal and two assists, and Kieran Devine proved helpful with three assists. Logan DeYoung had two goals; Giovanni Akeson had a goal and an assist; Connor Fraser had two assists; Giordano Saputo had a goal; and Patrik MacIsaac had a helper. Gillis took the win in net.
On the Pirates side, Morgan Timmons, MacKinnon, and Sisco all put the puck in the net, and playing set-up men were Troy Hillier, Hayes, Axel Poirier, and Floyd MacDonald.
Stymest allowed four goals, with the last one coming after he was pulled.
The Pirates and Bulldogs will have another shot at each other this Sunday, when they meet at the Antigonish Arena at 7:30 p.m.
So far as tonight’s game goes, Marston said he and the Strait are anxious to face Cumberland. However, the coach and players are also anxious to present a cheque for $800 to the Blues in an effort to help a Cumberland player who was injured on December 2.
The Strait was playing the Blues that night, and a Cumberland player was hit in the eye with a stick. Marston said neither he nor anyone he’s spoken to saw what exactly happened, as the incident took place when players were clustered along the boards. Still, there was no questioning the Cumberland player was badly hurt.
The coach said he and the Pirates send their best wishes to the player.