Make that 6 in row!

Your Pontiacs took home another win Friday evening defeating the Arnprior Rivermen 8-3 on Shawville Minor Hockey Appreciation Night. 

The Pontiacs didn't disappoint the home crowd long, scoring just 7 seconds into the hockey game when William Bujold finished off a nice 2on1 pass from Joey Brennan and newcomer Julien Pelletier.

Halfway through the frame Arnprior answered with two of their own taking a 2-1 lead, before Marco Racine Roy tied it from the slot with assists to Quinn O'Brien and Xavier Martine.

 The Pontiacs special teams then went to work scoring on the powerplay with a shot from the blue line by assistant captain Jean-Robin Mantha, assisted by Xavier Raby. But the visiting Rivermen weren't going down without a fight, answering 0:31 seconds later to end the first period all tied at three.

"I thought we didn't have a great first period overall" says Coach Findlay. "Yes, we came out fast and scored early, but I thought we were slow getting to pucks, and soft on our sticks. We were out battled in the first period and it gave Arnprior some life".

The first intermission saw the first of two SDMHA Coaches Challenges that took place as part of the special evening. A shoot-out from center ice was highlighted by U11C Coach Danny Lalonde who started the shootout 3for3 winning the challenge for his U11 team. Other participants in the shootout included U11A Coach (Rocky White), U11B Coach (Shawn Paulin), and U13C Coach (Cody Laurent).

The second period was fast and furious. Marco Racine Roy netted his second of the game from Xavier Raby, and veteran forward Joey Brennan added another from William Bujold and Brendan St-Louis. "We played better as a collective group in the second period" said Coach. "During the intermission we talked about second efforts and being relentless on pucks, and it showed as the game progressed. We were very happy with how our guys responded".

The second intermission was a race for the pucks. A group of SDMHA Coaches were blind folded on the ice and had to find a set of pucks that later had to be shot from center ice into the far net. A sight to be seen (by some...). The crowd cheered loud and had a good laugh as the U11C team once again took home the challenge led by Chris Hobbs and Tim Chevalier.

The Pontiacs continued to build momentum as they entered the third period. Special teams went to work again early in the period with a powerplay tally by captain Quinn O'Brien, assists to Racine Roy and Xavier Raby. Not long after, four minutes to be exact the trio combined once again on a second O'Brien goal to give the home team a 7-3 lead late in the third period.

New comer Jason Argue, a former Pontiac Jr B playing in his first game for the Pontiacs, put the finishing touches on the home team win scoring a blast high glove side from the tops of the circles around the midpoint of the third period.

"Its another big win for the team, and we loved how we continually got stronger as the game went on. Our veteran players were huge in this win. Raby on the back end being a strong physical body, O'B playing big and physical below the goal line, and Joey Brennan always hounding the puck, strong on his skates and hard to play against in all three zones" said Findlay.

The 3 stars of the game were;

First star: Quinn O'Brien (Pontiacs)

Second star: Marco Racine-Roy (Pontiacs)

Third star: Carlen Lyle (Rivermen)

The 8-3 win made it six in a row for the Pontiacs who sit at the top of the Capital Division. 

For full box score details check out the NPHL website below

https://www.nphlhockey.ca/stats#/988/game/1097767/boxscore

The Pontiacs next home game is Friday, November 21 (7:15pm warmup) when they host the Madawaska Valley Wolves in what should be a special evening for the Pontiac Angel Tree Toy Drive.

(Purchase any toy for the Angel Tree Toy Drive at Shawville Giant Tiger and receive a 15% discount)