By: Dante De Caria
Ottawa, Ontario – The Ottawa West Golden Knights (9-5-1) extended their home winning streak to five games with a 5-2 win over the Char-Lan Rebels (8-7-2) on Thursday night at the Barbara Ann Scott Arena.
Ottawa West jumps into third place in the Martin Division after the win. They now lead Char-Lan and Alexandria by one point with two games in-hand.
“It feels really good,” said Golden Knights forward Michael Gallivan on passing Char-Lan in the standings. “There’s a little bit of pressure taken off but we still have a ways to go.”
Ottawa West forward Noah Haymes scored his first career CCHL2 hat-trick in the win, finishing the night with four points.
“The boys were giving me the puck tonight and I was in the right place at the right time. I just put the puck in the net, that’s all,” said Noah Haymes on recording his first career hat-trick.
The Golden Knights were up 4-2 with under a minute to go in the game, Head Coach Steve Sundin saw that the net was empty and put Haymes out there for the hat-trick. He made no mistake skating in down the left-wing side and firing a low shot from the slot into the empty net.
After the goal, his teammates made sure to get the puck from the referee. Outside the locker-room, Equipment Manger Kristine Moreau surrounded the side of the puck with white hockey tape and wrote “first career hat-trick” on it.
“It felt good. Coach put me out there which was nice and the boys worked hard. It was a long shift and it was good to put it in,” added Haymes.
Haymes was also named the CCHL2’s First Star of the evening. After the four-point performance, Haymes now has four goals and three assists (7 PTS) over his last four games.
Haymes gives credit to his line that features Justin Jamer and Lucas Brown. “It’s going well, we’re picking it up and working well together in practice. Our chemistry is working well.”
Ottawa had a 2-0 lead early in the second period until it was erased after two-unanswered goals scored by the Rebels. Char-Lan’s two goals came off one of their set plays as they kept a forward high in the natural-zone for the whole game until it worked.
Justin Jamer gave the Golden Knight’s the 3-2 lead with under five minutes to play in the second, netting his fifth of the season. He walked into the zone and flipped a harmless shot on net that somehow got through Rebels goaltender Dawson Irving. Jamer said “sometimes you just need to get shots towards the net and see what happens,” in an intermission interview. That was the gameplan, as the Golden Knights outshot the Rebels 43-34 in the win. They’re now averaging 45 shots per-game in November.
Ottawa West has not lost in regulation against Char-Lan at home since the CCHL2 began in 2015-16. The season series is now tied 1-1. Both teams will meet up again on February 2nd, 2019 in the third of four meetings between the two teams.
The Golden Knight’s next game is tonight at 8:00 p.m., when the Embrun Panthers host Ottawa West in the second of four meetings. You can catch the radio broadcast starting at 7:50 on mixlr.com/owgkradio with Dante De Caria and Mason Detre.
