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Bulldogs still have a chance at 1st place, Jr. Capitals clinch fourth and final playoff spot
news • 2024-04-26This column reported last night that the Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs required two regulation wins Friday in order to finish first in the Don Johnson Memorial Cup round-robin tournament. This writer was wrong, the Bulldogs still needed two wins but one could be in overtime.
This is exactly what happened in the Bulldogs Lunch Hour Game in Mt. Pearl Friday as they squeaked by the Kensington Vipers from P.E.I. 4-3 in sudden-death overtime. After playing a scoreless first period, the two teams traded a pair of goals each in the second and one more apiece in the third to send it to overtime when Venel Campbell scored with 1:07 left to give the Bulldogs the win. Daniel Chaisson and Logan McGrath with an assist from Chaisson both scored power-play goals while Jack Hayne also scored for the defending Atlantic Champions. Cameron MacKay scored a pair for Kensington giving him four in the four games played by the Vipers while Max Chisholm added a single marker. The Bulldogs outshot the Vipers 40-30 including 17-8 in the second period and 4-2 in the overtime.
The Bulldogs now have 1 regulation win, 1 overtime win and one overtime loss for a total of 6 points. Their opponent Friday night will be the host 3-0-0-0 Mt. Pearl Blades who have 9 points. If the Bulldogs win in regulation, it will give them 9 points as well and they would take first place as despite having 9 points apiece, the tie-breaker in such circumstances for this tournament involving 2 teams is the team who wins the game in the round-robin.
St. John’s Jr. Capitals 3 Kent Coyotes 2
After losing their first three games of the tournament and being shut-out twice, the Jr. Capitals goalie Nathan Hurley played a sensational game stopping 47 of 49 shots for a .959 save percentage to see the Capitals clinch the final playoff berth while eliminating the New Brunswick entry from the playoffs. While both teams finished with one regulation win and 3 regulation losses, the same tie breaker was used to determine the fourth and final playoff entrant. The Caps were outshot 49-25 and scored only five goals in their four tournament games. Hurley was extra strong in the first and third periods as his club was outshot 21-9 and 17-5 by the Coyotes. They will confront either arch-rival Mt. Pearl or Antigonish in one of two semi-final games Saturday. Jordan Winter, Mark Davis and Mason Dawe with the game winner scored for the Caps while Jeremie Caissie scored both New Brunswick goals.
