Crucial games coming up

Valley Maple Leafs down Elks in first home game of 2019

The Valley Maple Leafs destroyed the Brookfield Elks Jan. 4, outshooting and outscoring the Elks by wide margins in Nova Scotia Junior Hockey play in Windsor.

It was a great start to 2019 as the Leafs were successful on eight of the 46 shots they had on the Elks’ net.

Tristan Cavanagh opened the scoring for the Leafs, who continue to battle for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Fred Fox Division.

After Cavanagh’s goal, within a span of 1:27, the Leafs’ Isaac Bridge and Stuart Kennie scored to give the hometown team a strong lead.

The Leafs’ lengthened their lead to 7-1 with four straight goals to begin the second period. Goal scorers were Cody Burghardt, Kolbi Daniels, Tristan Bowlby and Michael Anthony. The Elks, on the power-play, then scored their second and final goal of the game.

The Leafs’ Burghardt scored his second of the game in the final period.

As for the playoff race, the Leafs had their make-up game with the Antigonish Jr. Bulldogs postponed Jan 9.

Heading into the weekend, they occupied fifth place in the Fred Fox Division but played a huge game Jan. 11 at home against the 14-7-0 Sackville Blazers.

The Leafs had a 9-10-1 record heading into that game.

They are set to visit Cole Harbour on Jan. 16 to take on the 1310-0 Colts.

They are back home Jan. 18 against the Colts in a 7:30 p.m. start before heading out to Liverpool to play a critical game Jan. 19.

The Leafs still have three home games they must re-schedule against the Port Hawkesbury Strait Pirates, Liverpool Privateers and Antigonish Bulldogs. Based on the current standings, the Leafs will need to win these games if they hope to acquire more points than Liverpool to secure the final playoff spot.