AMHERST, N.S. — It was a tough start to the 2019 Fred Page Cup for the Maritime Junior Hockey League teams.
The host Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers looked a little rusty early on giving up a pair of first period goals en route to 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Jr. Senators in opening day action at the 2019 Fred Page Cup on Wednesday.
The defending Fred Page Cup and CCHL champions took the lead at 6:24. A shot from the point from Danny Pion was tipped into the net by Colin Marshall.
Then at 14:57, Noah Rowe beat Amherst goaltender Matt Williams on a one-timer down low to extend the Ottawa lead to 2-0. The Jr. Senators outshot the Ramblers 18-7 in the period.
A back and forth second period had few whistles and chances for each side, notably for Amherst on a pair of powerplays.
The score remained 2-0 for Ottawa until the final minute of play. With the Jr. Senators on a powerplay, Darcy Walsh wired a shot high over Williams from the faceoff dot for a 3-0 lead over Amherst with 24.5 seconds remaining. Shots were even in the second period at 11-11.
The Ramblers opened the third with a number of chances, but couldn't solve goaltender Francis Boisvert. Ottawa were kept in their own end for most of the first eight minutes of the period.
On their first shot of the period, at 8:18, David Toppa extended the Jr. Senators lead to 4-0.
Jacob Melanson would break the shutout at 11:19 to get Amherst on the board and cut the lead to 4-1.
That's as close as the Ramblers would get, however. Shots on goal for the game were 38-30 for Ottawa.
The players of the game were David Toppa for the Jr. Senators and Jacob Melanson for the Ramblers.
Earlier, the MHL champion Yarmouth Mariners dropped a 3-2 decision to the LHJQ champion Princeville Titan.
Princeville had heavy pressure early in the first period, outshooting Yarmouth 7-1 at one point, but a powerplay at 7:30 turned the tables and the Mariners finished a scoreless period with a 17-9 shot advantage.
In the second, on another Mariners powerplay, Titan forward Dominic Cormier cut around the Yarmouth defense and beat goaltender Tyler Caseley to give Princeville a 1-0 lead.
The shorthanded goal came at 4:53. Princeville would make it 2-0 before the period ended as William Bergeron scored on a one-timer to the left of Caseley at 18:36. Yarmouth outshot Princeville 15-11 in the period, but was still held off the scoresheet.
That would change just 17 seconds into the third period as Logan Timmons cut Princeville's lead to 2-1. The Yarmouth forward would tie the game at 12:53 as his shot snuck by Titan goaltender Mathieu Bellemare.
It looked as though the opening game could be heading to overtime, but an interference penalty against Zachery Bennett put Princeville on the powerplay with 4:38 remaining.
Titan defenseman Joakim Paradis' shot from the point was tipped, with the puck rolling towards the goal where Jeremy Cote deflected it by Caseley at 16:54 to give Princeville the lead back for good at 3-2.
The shots were 46-32 in favour of Yarmouth.
Timmons was named player of the game for the Mariners. Goaltender Bellemare was named player of the game for Princeville. The Titan were 2 for 5 on the powerplay, while Yarmouth was 0 for 8.
Day 2 of the Fred Page Cup on Thursday will feature Ottawa against Princeville at 3 p.m., with Yarmouth and Amherst squaring off at 7:30 in an all-MHL matchup.
The round robin wraps up Friday, with the semifinal on Saturday and final on Sunday. The winner will advance to the National Jr. A Championship in Brooks, Alta. from May 11 to 19.
