Picking up the wins

Valley Maple Leafs win a pair of games at home, on road

The Valley Maple Leafs started off their winning weekend, with a 3–2 victory against the East Hants Penguins in Lantz on Sept. 29.

The Penguins played the final 1:03 of the game with an empty net as they desperately attempted to tie the Leafs, but they couldn’t do it as the Leafs claimed their third win of the season.

Goals by Quinn MacDonald for the Penguins and Wesley Demone for the Leafs saw the teams tied at 1-1 after the opening period.

Mitchell Singer put the Leafs ahead 2-1 with a goal in the second period before Kyle Randall of the Penguins, only 52 seconds into the third period, scored to tie the game at 2-2.

Then, with 8:33 left, Singer scored again, this one the game winner and his second of the night.

Christopher Clokie stopped 37 of the 39 shots he faced as the Leafs were outshot every period by counts of 14-11, 14-6 and 11-8.

Win at home ice

The Leafs recorded their fourth victory of the season Oct. 1 at the Newport and District Rink, in a hard-fought 6-5 shoot-out win against the Port Hawkesbury Strait Pirates.

The back and forth game started with Port Hawkesbury taking a 4-2 lead after one period, but the Leafs did all of the scoring after that until Port Hawkesbury tied it 5-5 with 30 seconds left in regulation.

The Leafs had first period goals from Ben Dixon and Isaac Bridge.

Luke Russell brought the Leafs to within a goal with a power-play goal in the second and the Leafs entered the third period down 4-3.

Valley came out firing on all cylinders to begin the third as Alex McGaw tied it at 4-4 before Cody Burghardt put the Leafs up 5-4 before the Pirates scored a last minute goal to tie the game at 5-5.

In the five-minute overtime, the Pirates outshot the Leafs 5-2 but could not connect. It took a shoot-out goal by Bridge, his second of the game, to give the Leafs the win and their fourth victory of this young season.

The Leafs hit the road for their next games, taking on the Jr. Miners at the Membertou Sport and Wellness Centre on Oct. 14 and the Strait Pirates at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre on Oct. 15.