The Canadian Tire Atom Kinucks are back on the play-off
track after being eliminated in the OMHA Play-downs and started with two wins
against South Bruce (Mildmay/Teeswater) and one against Drayton in WOAA Round-Robin action.
Things didn’t seem to be going well for the Kinucks in game one as the first period was a scoreless draw and South Bruce scored 50 secs into period two on a break-away. This seemed to awaken the sleeping scoring giant as from this point forward it was all Kincardine who scored nine goals to South Bruce’s two for a final tally of 9-3 Kincardine. The first three Kincardine goals came in a span of 48 seconds and started just 19 seconds after South Bruce took the 1-0 lead. Some strong fore-checking and nice passing by Cameron Renaud on the first two goals set the tone and the local lads were flying after that, scoring five in the second frame and four more against the replacement goalie in the third. Goal scorers were Jordan Beisel, Wilson Shipp and Nolan MacKinnon with two apiece and singletons coming from Cody McLelland, Darcy Scott and Mackenzie Beisel on a seeing-eye tip through the goaltenders legs. Assists were registered by the aforementioned Cameron Renaud with a deuce, Ben Voskamp, Jordan Moulton and Jordan Beisel with a pair each and Shipp, Scott and Mac Beisel with one each. The goaltending duties were split between Ryan Tanner and Gordie Reaume with both making several saves to secure the win.
Game two of the home and home series was played Sunday afternoon in Mildmay and the hometown squad was not going to give up another two points in the round-robin series without a fight. Although the Kincardine squad lit the lamp first, half-way through the opening frame, their play was a tad lackluster and a bit lazy as indicated by their five penalties with most being of the tripping variety and one too-many-men call when they were already short-handed. The first Kincardine goal was scored by Cam Renaud who banged in a short side tally after a pass out front, assisted by MacKinnon and Shipp. South Bruce replied just 5 seconds into their first power play as the home player was allowed to walk in free off a draw in the neutral zone which he made no mistake on. With time running out in the second frame and Kincardine reeling a bit from having to kill four penalties, South Bruce broke in on a two-on-one only to be stymied by Gordie Reaume on a huge push across, possibly game saving save. The CTC boys were able to bang home a rebound marker with just 25 seconds remaining in the second period, MacKinnon being Johnny-on-the-spot to finish off some strong work by Shipp and J. Beisel. With Kincardine clinging to a 2-1 lead, the South Bruce squad tied it up half-way through the third on a shot that Reaume saved but the puck then bounced over his head and dropped down behind and into the net. With the score tied 2-2 and a much needed point on the line, MacKinnon was able to bury his second of the game on a rebound after Shippy fed Moulton who took a hard shot that the goalie couldn't corral. Just two minutes later, Ben Voskamp kept the puck in at the South Bruce blue-line, fed MacKinnon who in turn passed a beauty to Shipp who fired a bullet up where Norman Bates keeps his mother to seal the 4-2 win for Kincardine.
Game three was played against the Drayton Defenders, a team that the Kinucks had yet to face this year. After a brief feeling out period, with both teams trading chances, the Kincardine squad took control. With just under three minutes remaining in the first, Jordan Moulton showed some strong back-checking skills, picking the Drayton players pocket at center ice and breaking in alone to bury a shot high glove. Next it was Carson Fletcher's turn to light the lamp as he took a pass from Jordan Beisel and Moulton to fire a bar-down beauty to stake the locals to a 2-0 lead. Drayton cut that in half two minutes later when both Kincardine D-Men fell and the Defender went offence on a break-away and made no mistake. JB was able to restore the 3-1 lead with a break-away tally of his own, assisted by Ben Voskamp. The third period was all Kincardine as they scored four more times to take a convincing 7-1 victory. The first by Wilson Shipp after some hard work by JB and Cam Renaud, the second a fine un-assisted tally by Moultsy that has the Defenders still looking for the jock straps he deked them out of and the third coming from the stick of Ben Voskamp, his first of the year after Moultsy did some fine offensive work and slid the puck cross-crease where Ben slammed it into the yawning cage. With two-and-a-half minutes remaining, Moulton completed his hat-trick with a hard slapper from the blue-line that was tipped by the Defender and over the goalie to finish off the scoring. Final score, Kincardine 7, Drayton 1. Next up for the CTC Kinucks is a home date against the Shallow Lake Lakers on Wed Mar 05 @ 7pm.