The Carleton Place Canadians survived a determined comeback attempt by the Smiths Falls Bears on the way to a 7-5 win.
Carleton Place made the score 7-4 on a goal by Jordan Larson at 13:46 in the third period, and Smiths Falls got as close as 7-5 when Jared Henry scored 15:57 into the third period.
Brett Murray had two goals to lead the Canadians to victory. Murray scored at 15:32 into the second period to make the score 4-4 and again while 11:31 into the third to make the score 6-4 Carleton Place.
Carleton Place excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in five chances. The Canadians surpassed their usual scoring output this season. Carleton Place averages 4.3 goals per game.
Carleton Place also got points from Lucas Batt, who also registered one goal and two assists, Andrew Dodson, who also registered one goal and two assists, and Larson, who also finished with two goals and one assist. Nicolas Carrier also scored for Carleton Place. In addition, Carleton Place received assists from Connor Merkley, who had one, Maxime StPierre, who had three, and Bryce VanHorn, who had four.
The Bears stifled the Canadians' power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man.
Smiths Falls was helped by Michael McKenney, who grabbed one goal. McKenney scored 6:46 into the second period to make the score 3-2 Smiths Falls. Nicolas Coates picked up the assist. Smiths Falls additionally got points from Brett Garvey, who also racked up one goal and one assist and John Curran, who also tallied one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. Smiths Falls also got a goal from Corey Caruso as well. More assists for Smiths Falls came via Matthew Kenney and Sterling Bray, who contributed one each.
Adrian Clark rejected 19 shots on goal for Carleton Place. The Canadians incurred 10 minutes in penalty time with five minors. Evan DeBrouwer recorded 23 saves for the Bears. Smiths Falls incurred 12 minutes in penalty time with six minors.
