The Amherstburg Admirals may have won against the visiting Walpole Island Wild Saturday night but it came with a hefty price.
Several of the Admirals left the game early either with injuries or game misconducts but still managed to hang on and win 5-3 at the Libro Centre. Coupled with an 8-3 loss to the Lakeshore Canadiens the following night, the Admirals now see their Provincial Junior Hockey League (Jr. C) record sit at 19-17-1-0.
“I think we lost four or five guys. We are going to have to wait until the morning but it doesn’t look pretty right now,” said Amherstburg coach Zack Gervais after the game against the Wild.
Walpole Island, the most penalized team in the division, came into the contest with just four wins and clearly out of a playoff spot while the Admirals, the least penalized, are in a race with three other teams to see who will finish third.
There were nearly 100 minutes in penalties whistled in Saturday night’s game. The Wild converted two of their seven man-advantage opportunities while the Admirals went 1-for-9. The rough stuff began early when former Admirals’ defenceman Keygan Renaud and Amherstburg’s Drew Booker mixed it up in the corner.
“Stuff like that you just have to battle through it,” said Amherstburg veteran forward Allan Djordjevic of the physical game. “You have to win the battles and hope you get the win.”
Booker got the Yellow Jacket as the team’s top player on the night as both he and defenceman Jake Gourdreault led the offence with three assists. It was a balanced scoring attack as five different Admirals found the back of the net.
Cooper Bulmer, Darby Drouillard, Ryan Clark, Brady Drouillard and rookie Cory Leach with his sixth of the year scored for the winners who were up 1-0 after the first and 4-0 after 40 minutes. Answering for the Wild were Connor DeBot, Xavier Gelinas and Cohen Veenstra.
“Going into the playoffs we’re going to have to rely on our third and fourth lines to generate some offence,” said Djordjevic who had an assist.
Gervais had to do some juggling in the third period with a short bench which included Wyatt Goudie leaving after a slash to the foot. Ryan Dufour did a good job moving back to play a few shifts on defence.
“At one time we only had eight forwards. It was nice to see guys step up,” said Gervais.
Commenting on the Wild scoring three unanswered goals in the third, he said, “we lost our focus, it was tough. It is what it is but we are glad we got the two points.”
Against the Canadiens last Sunday night, the defending provincial champs led 2-1 after the first and increased that to 6-2 after 40 minutes. The fast-skating Booker had a pair of goals with the help of his linemates Brett Jones and Sandison. Jones had the other tally.
A big four-point night for Canadiens veteran Trevor Larue as he led the winners with two goals and a pair of helpers.
Amherstburg had another tough test Tuesday night as they were in Essex, after this issue of the RTT went to press.
The Dresden Kings visit the Libro Centre for the final regular season home game this Saturday. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.
SLAPSHOTS … Defenceman Jack Bulmer leads all blueliners on the team with 21 points. Great job by Admirals’ trainer Jenna Jardine for providing quick care to the players Saturday night… Booker is now on a six-point scoring streak.
Admirals beat Walpole Island, lose to Lakeshore at home
By Fred Groves
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