The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Athens Aeros to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Thurs., Nov. 7, in the CCHL2. The Vikings power forward, François Drouin (23) lets one rip at the Aeros’ goalie, Ross Furgiuele, scoring his second goal of the night. Drouin completed his hat trick a short time later helping the Vikings to a 7-0 victory. Moore photo

ARNPRIOR—The Casselman Vikings played two games this past weekend as they welcomed the Athens Aeros on Thursday night and travelled to Arnprior on Sunday night to take on the Packers.

Vikings 5 Packers 4

The Casselman Vikings travelled to the Nick Smith Centre in Arnprior on Sun., Nov. 10 to take on the Packers in the CCHL2. The Vikings were coming off a lopsided 7-0 victory over the Athens Aeros but led the Martin Division by three points ahead of the Ottawa West Golden Knights. 

The Vikings were short a few players on the road trip but that didn’t stop them as Jason Cossette opened the scoring at 17:24 of the first period, with his eighth of the season from Mikael Houle and Alexandre Charlebois to take the lead. The Vikings took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

The Vikings made it 2-0 when Frédérick Gagnier scored his fifth of the season from Houle at 4:01 of the second period. The Vikings made it 3-0 when Adam Paquette scored his third of the season from Zachary Fournier at 5:01. The Packers cut the deficit to two at 5:59 and to one at 10:58 but the Vikings took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission. 

The Vikings made it 4-2 when Nicolas Chartrand scored his seventh of the season from Fournier and Gagnier at 13:44 of the third period. 

The Packers closed the gap to one again at 16:07. The Packers pulled their goalie in favour of an extra attacker with about one minute remaining in regulation but the Vikings’ Paquette was able to bury his fourth of the season into the abandoned cage with just 23 seconds remaining. 

The Packers surprised the Vikings, scoring with just 13 seconds remaining to move to within one but that was as close as they would get as the Vikings hung on for a 5-4 victory. With the win, the Vikings moved five points ahead of the Golden Knights and the Embrun Panthers for first in the Martin Division. 

The Vikings out shot the Packers 42-23. Picking up the win in the Vikings’ goal was Zachari Racine making 19 saves.

Vikings 7 Aeros 0

The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Athens Aeros to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Thurs., Nov. 7, in the CCHL2. The Vikings went into the game in first place in the Martin Division, four points up on the second place Embrun Panthers. The Aeros sat in the league’s basement and were looking for their first win of the season. 

The Vikings got on the board first as Zachary Fournier scored his third goal of the season from Mikaël Bissonnette and Nicolas Chartrand at 5:17 taking a 1-0 lead. The Vikings outshot the Aeros 19-2 but took just a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. 

The Vikings made it 2-0 when Samuel Lacroix slammed home his first of the season from Mikael Houle and Justin Grégoire at 7:41 of the second period. The Vikings continued their assault, scoring at 8:37 as François Drouin scored his 11th of the season from Adam Paquette and Shawn Patterson. 

Grégoire scored his third of the season at 13:20 to give the Vikings a four-goal lead from Bissonnette and Houle. The Vikings’ roll continued as Drouin scored his second of the night and 12th of the season at 15:01 from Patterson and Alexandre Charlebois on the power play. Drouin completed his hat trick with just three seconds showing on the clock from Charlebois and Fournier on the power play as the Vikings took a 6-0 lead into the second intermission. 

The Vikings closed out the scoring when Xavier Léveillé scored his second of the season from Bissonnette and Zachary Power with just nine seconds remaining in the game. 

The Vikings took the game in a walk 7-0 moving six points up on the second place Panthers in the Martin Division. The Vikings outshot the Aeros 48-12. Picking up the shutout in the Vikings’ goal was Nick Campbell making 12 saves.

Up next

The Casselman Vikings welcome the Whitewater Kings to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Thurs., Nov. 14, for the school day at 11:30 a.m. and travel to the Barbara Ann Scott Arena in Ottawa on Sat., Nov. 16 at 7:20 p.m. to take on the Ottawa West Golden Knights.