Elmira Sugar Kings goaltender Greg Brassard watches the puck behind his goal during a game against the Kitchener Dutchmen. (Photo by Censational Photography)

Shutouts and overtime rule GOJHL weekend 

There were three local games in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League on Friday night, and each of them featured a shutout. 

The night began with the third-place Cambridge Redhawks visiting the lowly Brampton Bombers, and handling the home side on their way to a 5-0 victory. Payton McLeish, Jack McTiernan, and Nolan Foster each had two points for Cambridge, while Mike Leach stopped all 30 shots he faced in the Redhawks goal. In Listowel, the Cyclones struggled to get any offense going against the Midwest-leading Elmira Sugar Kings, losing 3-0. Mason McMahon, Luke Eurig, and Anthony Azzano scored for Elmira, with Azzano chipping in an assist as well, and Greg Brassard earned the shutout, stopping 25 shots. The final conference game of the night featured the Kitchener Dutchmen visiting the Stratford Warriors, with the Dutchies shutting out Stratford, 3-0. Kitchener scored once in each period on goals by Mitch Lee, Luc Brzustowski, and Kyle Kennery, and got 27 saves from Kevin Donaghey in his first GOJHL shutout. 

On Saturday, the Dutchies welcomed the Cyclones to Kitchener, and greeted them with elite special teams play. Kitchener scored four times on the powerplay on its way to a 5-2 win. Jeb Paulsen and Nathan Smilsky had three points for the Dutchies, while captain Sean Kawalec had four. Trent Verbeek and Tyler Healey scored for Listowel. Cambridge stayed in the win column at the expense of Stratford, beating the Warriors 6-3 on home ice. The Redhawks boasted a trio of three-point getters, while Stratford had three different goal scorers. The Waterloo Siskins and Brantford Bandits kicked off their respective weekends in Brantford on Saturday night, with Waterloo winning a wild one, 6-5 in overtime. Matthew Prucha put the Siskins up 5-4 on a powerplay late in the third, but Brenden Anderson tied the game with the goalie pulled. Less than two minutes into overtime, Ryan Fritz scored his third of the season to end the game and give himself three points on the night. 

Waterloo got its second win of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, beating Brampton at the Rec Complex, 4-2. Ty Matthews and Kyle VanDusen each had a goal and an assist for Waterloo, which outshot Brampton 45-25. Both of the other conference games on Sunday went to overtime, with Listowel clipping Brantford, 4-3, and Elmira dropping Kitchener, 5-4. Rylan Bowers scored the winner for Listowel, while Jeremey Goodwin, the Midwest’s reigning player of the month, ended the game for Elmira. 

The Sugar Kings now sit five points clear of Kitchener for first place in the Midwest, while Cambridge trails the Dutchies by just four points. Listowel moves two points up on Stratford for fourth, and Waterloo, Brampton and Brantford round out the conference.