Scotians on verge of grabbing playoff spot

The Pictou County Junior Scotians will head to Springhill on Friday with a chance to clinch a playoff spot.

The Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League club picked up an important two points on Monday at home, a 1-0 overtime victory over the Antigonish Bulldogs.

The teams were scoreless after regulation, but after the Bulldogs took a tripping penalty with less than a minute remaining in the extra session, the Scotians went on the power play, where Brendon Duff would get ahold of a rebound and pot the game-winner with six seconds left in the OT.

“It was big,” said Duff, the Scotians’ captain, when asked about the importance of the two points.

“Every point matters now, so it was great to get the win.”

Brandon MacDonald turned away 38 Antigonish shots to get the shutout in goal, but more important, the Scotians improved their playoff position. They have two games left in the season – the Friday night game against the Cumberland County Blues, and their final regular season game next Sunday in Trenton, also against the Blues.

Cumberland County were in the Annapolis Valley on Tuesday to play the Maple Leafs.

“Overall I thought we were a little rusty,” Scotians coach Al Whidden said of their victory over the Bulldogs.

“We had a week off after three games in four nights (the previous) week.”

But he gave credit to this team’s penalty killers, who along with MacDonald got the job done on five Antigonish power plays.

“Our PK was very strong, we limited their chances.”

The Scotians can still nail down second spot in the Sid Rowe division, but they could also miss the playoffs, depending on how things play out over the next five days.

They would also sew up a postseason berth if the Strait Pirates can’t win their final game of the season – they’d have to win it in regulation – this coming Friday at home against the Glace Bay Miners.