TRURO, N.S. – A pair of weekend wins helped the Truro Bearcats firm up their grip on third place in the Maritime Junior Hockey League’s Eastlink South Division.
Friday the Bearcats needed a shootout to down the visiting Grand Falls Rapids 3-2. Then Saturday, Truro picked up two points, beating the South Shore Lumberjacks 4-1 at the RECC, as South Shore jockeys for fourth place in the division, trailing Pictou County Weeks Crushers by a point.
Against the Lumberjacks, goals by Karter Renouf and Gavin Hart staked Truro to a 2-0 first-period lead. Dylan Burton made it 3-0 late in the second before Braden Paquette broke Myles Hektor’s bid for a shutout, scoring on the powerplay, just past three minutes into the third.
Kyle Sexton added an insurance marker at 7:33, scoring unassisted on the powerplay, rounding out the 4-1 final.
Sexton, Renouf and Burton each had a goal and an assist in the contest.
Hektor turned aside 30 of 31 South Shore shots for the win. The Bearcats countered with 27 shots against netminder Ty Grant.
Grand Falls Rapids 2
Truro Bearcats 3 (SO)
After a scoreless opening frame Friday, Gavin Hart tallied late in the second to make it 1-0. Grand Falls countered with a goal by Jean-Simon Belanger in the third, before Caleb Hart’s marker restored Truro’s one-goal lead.
Christian Snyder drew the Rapids even again at 14:44, sending the teams to overtime, where nothing was resolved.
In the shootout, both teams’ first marksmen scored, Chris Melendez for Grand Falls and Burton for the Bearcats. After four consecutive misses by the Rapids and three by Truro, Jack McGovern settled the matter, scoring on the Bearcats’ fifth shootout opportunity.
Alec MacDonald took the win in net for Truro, turning aside 28 of 30 shots. Nolan Boyd faced 34 Truro shots.
This Thursday, the Bearcats travel to New Glasgow to face the Crushers in a 7 p.m. contest. Saturday, Truro hosts the Campbellton Tigers. Game time is 7 p.m. at the RECC.
