Royals Snowed Out, Host Embrun Sunday
First Place On The Line When Panthers Come To Richmond For Jr. B Clash
If the Richmond Royals were hoping to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the pack, they will have to wait until Sunday when they host the second place Embrun Panthers.
Tonight’s Junior B hockey clash in Alexandria between the Royals and Glens was postponed due to the snow storm. The Royals are in first place in the Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League standings with 41 points, two ahead of Embrun with a game in hand.
One That Got Away
Last Sunday in Richmond, the Royals had a 4-2 lead but let it slip away in the third period before losing 5-4 in overtime to the Ottawa West Golden Knights.
The Royals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first. After coming up short on an early power play, the Royals got another opportunity when Marco Peloso took a slashing penalty. Golden Knights coach Derek Lemadeleine objected a bit too passionately to the call, and he was given a bench minor to give the Royals a two-minute, five-on-three advantage.
Sam McElheran scored from Sheldon Lyons and Tyler Cutts to end one of the penalties, and then Jackson Dallaire scored Richmond’s second power play goal 22 seconds later from Shane Sullivan and Drew Russett.
The Royals took three penalties in the second half of the period, allowing the Golden Knights to get back in the game.
Justin Graham scored an even strength goal to make the score 2-1. With Richmond’s Shane Sullivan in the penalty box for the second time in the period, Anthony Tardioli scored to tie the score for the Golden Knights.
Early in the second period, Richmond regained their two-goal lead. Dylan Rorwick scored the third Royals power play goal of the game from Sullivan and Lyons, and then Jaidon Genereux scored his 11th of the year from Sullivan and Lyons.
The Royals had the chance to put the Golden Knights away later in the second period as they had three straight power plays. The Royals looked sloppy, Ottawa West goalie Jordan Provost looked sharp, and a big opportunity was lost. A turnover led to an opportunity for the Knights, and Logan Bohm converted with a shorthanded goal to make the score 4-3 at the intermission.
The Royals were outshot 14-8 in the second. The ice was tilted even more in favour of the Royals in the third period as they dominated play and outshot Richmond 14-5.
Richmond goalie Gabe Arrigo made a number of big saves, but a hooking penalty charged to Dallaire with just 3:10 remaining in regulation time put the Royals’ backs against the wall.
The Golden Knights pulled Provost to have a six-on-four advantage. Eventually, big blueliner Adam Cater drifted a wrist shot from the point that went through a maze of bodies and handcuffed Arrigo to tie the score.
The Royals put themselves in a hole again at the end of the third period. Genereux took a kneeing penalty with just 18 seconds remaining in regulation time. The referees originally let the call go while the Knights’ bench and fans went ballistic. At the next whistle, a conference with the referees and linesmen led to the five minute major and game misconduct for Genereux.
The penalty resulted in what would be a Golden Knights four-on-three power play throughout overtime. The Golden Knights pressured the Royals, and 56 seconds into the power play, Cater scored his second goal to win the game.
Tensions were heated after the game, and Provost, the Golden Knights goalie who was extremely vocal after the initial non-call against Genereux for kneeing, crossed the threshold of acceptance and was handed a game misconduct.
Bounce Back
On Tuesday, the Royals got the chance to bounce back as they visited the Ottawa Jr. Canadians. However, the team came out even flatter than they looked on Sunday afternoon.
The Canadians outshot the Royals 16-5 in the first period, but goalie Mavric Welk only gave up an early goal to Kai Nicholson. The Royals had a successful but lengthy penalty kill after Michael Bernier took a minor for slashing combined with a match penalty for grabbing the face mask.
Even though the Royals were outshot 16-8 in the second, they levelled the score at 1-1 when Leo Kluchert scored from Giulio Carulli and Drew Russett.
In the third period, the Royals finally found their legs and had their best period in a few games.
Tyler Cutts broke free for an unassisted goal to put the Royals ahead 2-1. He then set up Dylan Rorwick for his 25th goal of the year, with Tyler Hames also earning an assist. With just over a minute left, Jackson Dallaire scored a shorthanded insurance goal from Ryan Sullivan.
Looking Ahead
First place is on the line at the Royals game Sunday afternoon against Embrun starts at 1:20 p.m. at the Richmond Memorial Community Centre. Embrun forward Charlie Belanger is third in the EOJHL with 28 goals in 29 games while linemate Juno Gregoire has 32 points in 28 games.
Featured Image – Tyler Cutts was taken down by what looked like a WWE tag team suplex in the third period of Sunday’s overtime loss to the Ottawa West Golden Knights. No penalty was called on the play. (Manotick Messenger/RichmondHub photo)
