The Casselman Vikings travelled to the Nick Smith Arena on Sun., Feb. 18, to take on the Packers in the CCHL2. The Vikings’ defenseman Jonah Peters (24) came to play scoring a goal and picking up three helpers for four points as the Vikings took the game 8-1. Courtesy Lauwers photo
Jeff Moore
Record Staff
ARNPRIOR – The Casselman Vikings played two games this past weekend.
Vikings 8 Packers 1: The Vikings travelled to the Nick Smith Arena in Arnprior to take on the Packers on Sun., Feb. 18, in the CCHL2. The Vikings were coming off an 8-3 win over the Winchester Hawks in their previous game and looked to keep the momentum rolling into the playoffs as they head into the final week of the regular season.
The Vikings opened the scoring when Danyk Drouin slapped one to the back the net from Brendan Doherty and Jonah Peters on the power play at 6:16 of the first period. The Packers tied the game at one at 14:07 and the teams took a one-all draw into the first intermission.
The Vikings made it 2-1 when Peters pounded one home from Gabriel Rousselle and Yanick Dicaire at 3:308 in the second period. The Vikings then made it a 3-1 game when Brady Cloutier slapped one home from Dicaire and Carter Malette at 9:12 and 4-1 at 13:23 as Joel Hunt lit the lamp from Malette and Cloutier. The Vikings took the 4-1 lead into the second intermission.
The Vikings made it 5-1 when Dicaire sniped one from Malette and Peters at 2:17 of the third period. The Vikings made it 6-1 at 4:59 when Jason Cossette slid one home from Peters and Joseph Heath and 7-1 at 11:27 as Sebastien Plante fired one home from Hunt and Doherty. The Vikings closed out the scoring when Doherty buried one from Plante and Hunt at 11:45 and took the game by a score of 8-1. With Plante’s goal and assist, he moves up to96 points.
With the win, the Vikings remain 11 points ahead of the Canadians in second and have clinched first place in the Martin Division. Picking up the win in the Vikings’ goal was Nick Campbell making 20 saves on 21 shots.
Vikings 8 Hawks 3: The Vikings welcomed the Winchester Hawks to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Thurs., Feb. 15, in the CCHL2. The Vikings went into the game in first place atop the Martin Division with 74 points nine points ahead of the second-place Ottawa Canadians. The Hawks sat in the bottom of the division with 29 points.
The Hawks opened the scoring at 15:30 of the first period as Christophe Lemay fired one to the back of the net from Joey Driscoll to take a 1-0 lead. The Hawks made it 2-0 as Graeme Buffone slapped one home from Joel Driscoll with just 1:51 remaining in the opening frame. The Hawks took the 2-0 lead into the first intermission despite being outshot 21-11. The Vikings cut the deficit in half when Danyk Drouin buried one from Jason Cossette and Sean David at 2:17 of the second period.
The Vikings knotted the affair at 2:58 as Ethan Cahill snapped one home from Drouin and Sebastien Plante. The Hawks regained the lead when Joey Driscoll slammed one to the back of the net from Lemay and Joel Driscoll at 7:58 to make it 3-2. The Vikings tied the game at three when Plante sniped one from Brendan Doherty and Kyle Millett at 8:33. The team took a three-all draw into the second intermission. It was all Vikings in the third period scoring five unanswered goals.
Carter Malette started things off at 2:19, scoring off a rebound from Ethan Wensink and Gabriel Roussellle as the Vikings took their first lead of the game. Malette scored his second of the game at 6:27 on the power play from Plante and Joel Hunt to make it 5-3; then Plante scored his second of the game from David and Brady Cloutier also on the power play at 11:06. Plante completed his hat trick at 17:18 from Doherty and Cahill and Cossette closed out the scoring at 17:59 from Cahill and Rousselle and took the game 8-3. With the victory, the Vikings move 11 points ahead of the Canadians.
Picking up the win in the Vikings’ goal was Nick Campbell making 22 saves on 25 shots and suffering the loss in the Hawks’ goal was Brent Pledge Dickson making 45 saves on 53 shots.
Up next: Thurs., Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m., Vikings vs. Brockville Tikis, J. R. Brisson Complex, Casselman; Sat., Feb. 24, 3 p.m., Vikings vs. Timberwolves, Ma-te-Way Rink, Renfrew.
