BRIDGEWATER – The Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers struck for four first period goals en route to a 6-3 win over the Bridgewater Lumberjacks in Maritime Junior Hockey League action Friday in Bridgewater.
“We skated hard in the first period and got some pucks at the net. Things were going our way,” Ramblers’ coach Jim Bottomley said after the game. “We wanted to get a quick start.”
The win concluded the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule for the Ramblers, who return to action at home on Jan. 5 against the Dieppe Commandos.
Mitch O’Neil had two goals for the Ramblers, while Ben Berisha and Willie MacDonald each had a goal and an assist.
“That line can score a lot of goals. Kody has been playing really well lately and we’ve been after Mitch to shoot the puck more because he has a great shot. I think you’ll see more of that after the break,” Bottomley said.
Jamie Bishop and Ryan Caswell also scored for Amherst, which led 6-2 after two periods.
Kody Orr had two assists for Amherst, while Brock Morrison, Brett Shute, Robert Davis, Patrick Harrison and Maxime Richard each had single assists.
Michael Crawley had two goals for the Lumberjacks, while Shaun McEachern scored once. Amherst native Luke Warner had an assist for the Ramblers.
Bridgewater outshot the Ramblers 32-25.
“It was a big win for us because the guys were thinking of getting home for Christmas. We had a great first period, but the third period wasn’t so good. We took some penalties we shouldn’t have. Overall though it was a good way to head into the break,” Bottomley said.
Bottomley said he will be looking to make a few additions over the Christmas break. He said he has been talking to several teams about a number of players.
It looks like Danny Chiasson won’t be one of them. The league’s leading scorer appears headed from Dieppe to the Summerside Western Capitals, although the trade hasn’t been formally approved by the league.
