CARLOS VERDE // OTTAWA, ON—
A dominant third period lifted the Ottawa Jr. Senators past the Hawkesbury Hawks on Saturday night, as the Junior Sens dumped the Hawks 4-1 on the strength of four third-period goals in game one of the CCHL semi-finals. Louis-Charles Croteau’s short-handed marker proved to be the game-winner for the Sens, who were backstopped to the win by a confident 30-save performance from goaltender Ian Andriano.
“I thought it was our best game of the playoffs,” said Ottawa head coach Martin Dagenais post-game. “We played a complete game; we didn’t get the bounces early and their goalie made some crazy saves, but we showed character in the third period.”
The game remained scoreless through the first 32 minutes of action, though it was not for a lack of scoring chances. Both Andriano and surprise Hawkesbury starter Andrew Tucci were sharp from the opening face-off, with the latter producing a number of stellar point-blank stops in Saturday’s contest.
Hawkesbury’s Brett Everson finally opened the scoring at the 12:27 mark of the middle stanza, wiring a shot past Andriano from long range that beat the OJS goaltender glove-side.
The visiting Hawks took their one-goal lead into the second intermission despite Ottawa dominating the closing minutes of the second period.
The Junior Sens came out flying in the final frame. Mitchell Gibson drew Ottawa level less than two minutes into the period, Croteau’s short-handed goal some five minutes later put them ahead, and a Luke McCaw goal at 12:03 sealed the deal for the hosts. Defenceman Hunter Gunski added a long empty-netter to round out the night’s scoring.
“We were awful,” said Hawkesbury head coach Rick Dorval bluntly following his team’s third-period collapse. “We were flat-out awful—it should have been 9- or 10-1—and we didn’t even deserve to be in the semi-finals tonight.”
Without some of the stunning short-range saves from Tucci, the surprise starter over Cole Skinner (upper-body), the Hawks could have been embarrassed in game one.
“They won every footrace—they’re a very non-physical team and tonight we were terrified of them,” lamented Dorval, whose team went 0-for-7 on the powerplay. “Tucci(’s performance) is the only reason we can leave with our heads somewhat up.”
Despite the one-sided end to game one, both coaches know all too well the scoreboard will reset to zero on Tuesday in Hawkesbury for game two.
“We know Tuesday will not be easy,” said Dagenais, whose Junior Sens team outshot Hawkesbury 36-31. “The Hawks Nest is a tough place to play and they’re a very tough team to beat at home.”
