A hat trick by Cole Busschaert was the highlight in Bears' 7-3 win against the Carleton Place Canadians.
Busschaert's first goal came 4:40 into the second period. He then added goals at 19:59 into the second and at 18:26 into the third.
The Smiths Falls Bears' offense rang up 36 shots on Carleton Place's net. Smiths Falls outdid its season average for goals scored. The Bears have scored at the pace of 4.0 goals per game during the current campaign.
Smiths Falls also got points from Matthew Kenney, who also registered one goal and one assist, Corey Caruso, who also had one goal and one assist, Rutkowski Joey, who also tallied one goal and one assist, and Michael McKenney, who also racked up one goal and two assists. In addition, Smiths Falls received assists from Brett Garvey, who had one, Kevin Groulx, who had three, and Nicolas Coates, who had four.
The Canadians struggled to stay out of the sin bin throughout the game as they finished the game with 16 penalty minutes for seven opposing power plays.
Carleton Place was led by Brett Murray, who registered one goal and two assists. Murray scored on the power play 15:17 into the second period to make the score 4-2 Smiths Falls. The Canadians earned a power play opportunity when Jaylon Gorman was put in the box for holding. Marcus Joseph assisted on the tally. Carleton Place additionally got points from Joseph, who also had one goal and one assist and Nicolas Carrier, who also racked up one goal and one assist. Other players who recorded assists for Carleton Place were Lucas Batt and Bryce VanHorn, who each chipped in one.
Evan DeBrouwer made 27 saves for Smiths Falls on 30 shots. The Bears incurred 12 minutes in penalty time with six minors. Adrian Clark recorded 29 saves for Carleton Place. The Canadians registered three goals on six power play opportunities.
