The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Westport Rideaus to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Sun., Dec. 22, in the CCHL2. The Vikings’ forward, Zachary Fournier (7) scored a goal and an assist but the Rideaus were the better team taking the game 7-5. Moore photo

CASSELMAN—The Casselman Vikings played two home games this past weekend as they welcomed the Winchester Hawks on Thursday night and the Westport Rideaus on Sunday night in their final two games of 2019.

Rideaus 7 Vikings 5

The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Westport Rideaus to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Sun., Dec. 22, in the CCHL2. The Vikings went into the game in fourth place in the Martin Division but were riding a four-game losing streak. The Rideaus sat in the number one spot in the Richardson Division with 18 wins, seven losses, one overtime loss and one shootout loss. 

The Rideaus opened the scoring at 7:28 of the first period taking a 1-0 lead. The Rideaus made it 2-0 at 13:09 and took that lead into the first intermission. The Vikings cut into the deficit at 4:58 of the second period as Mathieu Talbot scored his 18th goal of the season from Evan Huntley and Alexandre Charlebois and tied the game at 15:44 as Charlebois scored his ninth of the season from Huntley on the power play. 

The Rideaus answered with three straight goals at 17:48, 18:12 and with 49 seconds remaining in the second period. The Rideaus took a 5-2 lead into the second intermission. The Rideaus made it 6-2 just 1:53 into the third period on the power play. 

The Rideaus made it 7-2 at 5:40 again on the power play but the Vikings responded at 10:35 as Zachary Fournier scored his sixth of the season from Charlebois and Jason Cossette on the power play. 

The Vikings closed the gap to three as Adam Paquette scored his fifth of the season from Fournier and Joshua Desjardins at 14:10 on the power play. The Vikings got to within two as Cossette scored his 14th of the campaign from affiliated player Jarrett Williams  and Huntley at the 15-minute mark on another power play. 

The Vikings pressed to close the gap but the Rideaus stood their ground hanging on for a 7-5 victory. The Vikings outshot the Rideaus 41-26. Suffering the loss in the Vikings’ goal was Zachari Racine making 19 saves.

Hawks 5 Vikings 4 (OT)

The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Winchester Hawks to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Thurs., Dec. 19, in the CCHL2. The Vikings went into the game in fourth place in the Martin Division, seven points up on the fifth place Hawks and three points behind the Embrun Panthers in third. 

The Vikings opened the scoring when Mathieu Talbot fired home his 17th goal of the season from Nicolas Chartrand and Samuel Labre at 2:59 of the first period taking a 1-0 lead. 

The Hawks knotted the affair when Eric Vitale scored his 18th of the season from Colby Schroeder and Ryan Nielson at the 11-minute mark. The Vikings retook the lead when affiliated player Kevin Howson scored his first as a Viking from Frédérick Gagnier and Mikael Houle at 16:55. 

The Vikings took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. The Vikings took a two-goal lead when Gagnier scored his sixth of the season from Chartrand and Xavier Léveillé at 5:51 of the second period. The Vikings made it 4-1 as Howson scored his second of the game from Brendon Watson at 10:50. 

The Hawks got back to within two as Schroeder scored his third of the season from Vitale at 12:22. The Hawks made it  a one-goal game when Kyle Kuehni scored his 11th of the season from Colby Byrnes-Shaw and Vitale on the power play with just 10 seconds remaining in the middle frame. 

The Vikings took a 4-3 lead into the second intermission. The Hawks tied the game at 14:05 of the third period as Kyle Fleming scored his 12th of the campaign from Schroeder and Vitale. Neither team was able to score before the end of regulation so the game headed to a five-minute three-on-three overtime period. 

The Hawks completed the comeback when Jacob Giacobbi scored his second of the season from Vitale with just three seconds remaining in overtime, taking the game 5-4. With the win, the Hawks moved to within six points of the Vikings in fourth place and with the single point, the Vikings moved to within two points of the Panthers in third place. 

The Vikings outshot the Hawks 34-20. Suffering the loss in the Vikings’ goal was Nick Campbell making 15 saves and picking up the win in the Hawks’ goal was Lucas Devries making 30 saves.

Up next

The Casselman Vikings welcome the Ottawa West Golden Knights to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Sat., Jan. 4 at 7:30 p.m.