The North Dundas Rockets travelled to the St. Isidore Arena on Sun., Feb. 18, to take on the Eagles in the NCJHL. The Rockets’ forward Tom Fingler (10) picked up a goal and four assists against the Eagles taking the game 9-3. The line of Fingler, Connor Roth and Chris Marchand combined for six goals and eight assists for 14 points versus the Eagles.   O’Donohue photo

Jeff Moore
Record Staff
CHESTERVILLE—The North Dundas Rockets played their final regular season games this past week.

Rockets 6 Vikings 3: The Rockets welcomed the Papineau Vikings to the Chesterville Arena on Mon., Feb. 19, in the NCJHL. After two previously failed attempts to play this game due to bad weather, it finally happened in the Rockets’ final regular season game. After the Rockets defeated the St. Isidore Eagles they moved into a third-place tie with the Cumberland Bandits and sat just a single point behind the Gatineau Hull Volant and had a chance to take sole possession of second with a win.

The Vikings opened the scoring at the 11-minute mark of the first period to take a 1-0 lead. The Vikings made it 2-0 at 14:16 and made it 3-0 at 15:51. The Rockets answered at 16:54 as Tom Fingler plowed one home from Brodie Barkley to make it 3-1. The Rockets got to within one when Justin Lefebvre slapped one home from Shawn Simms with just 1:52 remaining in the opening frame. The Vikings took a 3-2 lead into the first intermission.

The Rockets tied the game when Bryden Van Kessel slid one home from Fingler and Connor Roth at 5:40 of the second period. The Rockets took their first lead of the game when Van Kessel scored his second of the game from Brad Stitt and Lefebvre at 13:36. The Rockets took a 4-3 lead into the second intermission.

The Rockets made it 5-3 just 56 seconds into the third period as Roth fired one home from Van Kessel and Lefebvre. The Rockets closed out the scoring when Simms rattled one home from Nick Sourges while short-handed.

The Rockets took the game 6-3 handing the Vikings their eighth loss of the season but more importantly moved into second place to finish the regular season and will wait for the winner between the Vankleek Hill Cougars and the Morrisburg Lions in their mini series.

Picking up the win in the Rockets’ goal was Reilly Tondreau making 20 saves on 22 shots.

Rockets 9 Eagles 3: The Rockets travelled to the St. Isidore Arena on Sun., Feb. 18, to take on the Eagles in the NCJHL. The Rockets and the Eagles went into the game as part of a four-team stalemate as they, the Cumberland Bandits and the Clarence Castors were all tied at 41 points.

The Rockets held two games in hand on the Bandits and the Eagles and had a chance at second place as the Gatineau Hull-Volant’s season was already completed. The Rockets opened the scoring just 1:45 into the first period as Tom Fingler pounded one to the back of the net from Bryden Van Kessel to take a 1-0 lead.

The Rockets made it 2-0 at 3:12 as Justin Lefebvre slid one to the back of the net from Van Kessel and Shawn Simms and 3-0 at 4:38 as Connor Roth blasted one home from Fingler and Chris Marchand. The Rockets took a four-goal lead when Marchand finished a play off from Fingler. The Eagles finally got on the scoreboard with just 1:04 remaining in the opening frame on the power play. The Rockets took a 4-1 lead into the first intermission.

The Eagles got to within two at 10:19 of the second period but the Rockets answered when Lefebvre scored his second of the game from Roth and Fingler on the power play at 14:30. The Rockets added to their lead at 17:17 when Roth scored his second of the game on an unassisted power-play goal. The Rockets took a 6-2 lead into the second intermission.

The Rockets made it 7-2 when Roth completed his hat trick at 5:14 of the third period and 8-2 at 12:29 as Matt Cowley pounded one to the back the net from Roth and Van Kessel. The Rockets scored again at 15:40 as Cowley netted his second of the game from Marchand on the power play. The Eagles added a goal with 1:04 remaining but the Rockets took the game 9-3 convincingly. With the win the Rockets moved into a third-place tie with the Cumberland Bandits and had a chance to move into second with a win against the Papineau Vikings.

Picking up the win in the Rockets’ goal was Jason Buma.

Rockets 4 Bandits 3: The Rockets welcomed the Cumberland Bandits to the Chesterville Arena on Sat., Feb. 17, in the NCJHL. The Rockets went into the game in sixth place just two points behind a slew of teams log jammed at 41 points. The Bandits were one of the ones in the three-way logjam so it was a “must win” for the Rockets.

The Bandits opened the scoring at 12:16 of the first period to take a 1-0 lead. The Bandits made it 2-0 at 16:58 while shorthanded but the Rockets answered when Bryden Van Kessel slammed one to the back of the net from Shawn Simms with just two seconds remaining in the opening frame. The Bandits took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

The Bandits made it 3-1 at 2:16 of the second period but the Rockets got to within one when Justin Lefebvre slipped one home from Matt Cowley and Van Kessel at the seven-minute mark. The Rockets evened the affair when Chris Marchand pounded one to the back the net from Van Kessel at 10:47. The teams took a three-all draw into the second intermission.

The Rockets outshot the Bandits 12-6 in the third period and with all the pucks flying toward the net one made its way in as Lefebvre scored his second of the game with just 2:53 remaining in regulation from Simms on the power play.

The Rockets took the game 4-3 atoning for the previous home loss against the Bandits. With the win the Rockets moved into the logjam with 41 points tied for third. The Rockets still could finish as high as second as they only trail the Gatineau-Hull Volant by three points.

Picking up the win in the Rockets’ goal was Jason Buma making 24 saves on 27 shots.

Up next: Playoffs!