The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Richmond Royals to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Thurs., Jan. 30, in the CCHL2. The Vikings’ forward, Jason Cossette gets sandwiched between the Royals’ defenseman, Willem Brant and goalie, Darien Johnson as the puck bounces around the goal crease. Cossette scored a goal and a helper in his first game back to lineup after a suspension to help take the game 5-2. Moore photo

RENFREW—The Casselman Vikings played a pair of games this past weekend as they welcomed the Richmond Royals on Thursday night and travelled to Renfrew on Friday night to take on the Timberwolves.

Vikings 6 Timberwolves 1

The Casselman Vikings travelled to the Ma-te-Way Activity Centre in Renfrew on Fri., Jan. 31, to take on the Timberwolves in the CCHL2. The Vikings went into the game in fourth place in the Martin Division, just four points behind the Ottawa Jr. Canadians for third place, while the Timberwolves sat in sixth place and have a good chance to move into a playoff spot. The Vikings had won five straight, after defeating the Richmond Royals the previous night and looked to make it six straight. 

The Vikings opened the scoring when Frédérick Gagnier snapped home his 11th goal of the season from Mathieu Talbot and Samuel Labre at 17:18 of the first period taking a 1-0 lead. The Vikings took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. 

The Timberwolves tied the game at 6:36 but that was short lived as the Vikings retook the lead just 17 seconds later, as Xavier Léveillé scored his fifth of the season from Talbot and Gagnier. The Vikings took a two-goal lead when Evan Huntley blasted his eighth of the season home from Jason Cossette at 14:20. 

The Vikings made it a three-goal game when Joshua Desjardins scored his second of the campaign from Alexandre Charlebois with just one second remaining in the middle frame on the power play. 

The Vikings took a 4-1 lead into the second intermission. The Vikings made it 5-1 when Labre sniped home his fifth of the season from Charlebois and Shawn Patterson on the power play at 11:07 of the third period. 

The Vikings closed out the scoring at 14:38 as Gagnier scored his second of the game and 12th of the season from Léveillé and Talbot. The Vikings took the game 6-1 moving to within two points of the third place Ottawa Jr. Canadians. The Vikings outshot the Timberwolves 43-27. 

Picking up the win in the Vikings’ goal was Nick Campbell making 26 saves.

Vikings 5 Royals 2

The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Richmond Royals to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Thurs., Jan. 30, in the CCHL2. The Vikings went into the game in fourth place in the Martin Division and have won their last four games, moving to within four points of the Ottawa Jr. Canadians in third and six points ahead of the Winchester Hawks in fifth. 

The Royals opened the scoring just 18 seconds into the first period taking a 1-0 lead. The Vikings tied the game at 3:33 as Samuel Labre pounded home his second goal of the season from Joshua Desjardins and Jason Cossette. 

The teams took a one-all draw into the first intermission. The Vikings took their first lead of the game when Xavier Léveillé scored his fourth of the season from Shawn Patterson and Mathieu Talbot on the power play at 8:13 of the second period. 

The Royals tied the game at 9:47 and the teams took a two-all draw into the second intermission. The Vikings took their second lead of the game when Alexandre Charlebois sniped one for his 12th of the season from Talbot and Patterson on the power play at 8:19. 

The Vikings took a two-goal lead when Cossette lit the lamp for the 17th time of the season from Mikael Houle and Tyler McCullough at 15:21.With the clock winding down in regulation, the Royals pulled their goalie in favour of an extra attacker, but that didn’t work as planned as Houle scored his first of the season from Léveillé with just 20 seconds remaining; this gave the Vikings a 5-2 lead. 

The Vikings took the game 5-2 winning their fifth straight game. The Vikings outshot the Royals 47-21. 

Picking up the win in the Vikings’ goal was Nick Campbell making 16 saves on 17 shots after replacing starting goalie, Zacharie Racine who was run over after the Royals opened the scoring. 

Up next

The Casselman Vikings welcome the Renfrew Timberwolves to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Thurs., Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m. and travel to the Char-Lan Recreation Centre in Williamstown on Sat., Feb. 8 to take on the Rebels at 8 p.m.