By: Agrani Tiwari
The Ottawa West Golden Knights pulled off a hard-fought 5-4 victory against the Embrun Panthers, securing two points in a physical, tense game on Thursday, Oct. 24.
The game’s intensity was evident from the start, with the Panthers taking an early lead. Embrun’s Marc-Antoine Petrut opened the scoring at 3:46 with a power-play goal, assisted by Camden Cunningham-Fetch and Maxime Carriere.
Ottawa West responded swiftly, with Brennan Miller finding the back of the net at 8:50, assisted by Matthew Stringer. The Panthers briefly regained control when Wyatt Leblanc scored at 10:25, but the Knights closed the period with Justin Murdoch’s equalizer at 19:43, bringing the score to 2-2.
Ottawa West took control in the second period with three back-to-back goals, starting with Connor Dickey’s tally at 4:25, assisted by Jacob Perreault and Marco Peloso. Just minutes later, Bailey Pipe netted another at 6:46, again with Perreault and Dickey contributing to the play. With this momentum, Justin Murdoch, the evening’s first star, scored his second of the game at 18:29, giving the Knights a comfortable 5-2 lead.
Head Coach Steve Sundin remarked on the team’s effort.
“We were up 5-2 and allowed two bad goals. We let them back in the hockey game, which we shouldn’t have done, but we were shorthanded. The guys ran out of gas a little bit,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Sundin acknowledged the positive aspects of the game: “I thought it was a really good effort. The team is spreading the scoring around. Miller got his first goal tonight, so it wasn’t pretty, but that’s the way we’ve been winning lately—ugly wins.”
The third period showcased the growing rivalry between the two teams. Embrun’s Liam Murdoch brought his team closer with a goal at 6:15, and Owen Raine followed at 9:04, setting up a nerve-wracking finish. The physicality escalated as penalties piled up, including roughing penalties and a misconduct for inciting by Yanik Major. Jacob Perreault, who tallied two assists and displayed a strong offensive presence, got caught up in the aggressive exchanges, leading to a penalty of his own.
“Today was a pretty rough game,” said Perreault. “We’re not a big fan of these guys…especially from last year; we beat them in the playoffs, never liked them.” The game featured a fight involving Perreault, who admitted, “I got one of my chains ripped off, and yeah, bloody lips and whatever. It’s all part of the game, you know?”
The Golden Knights’ gritty play and determination carried them through the challenging encounter, continuing their recent trend of “ugly wins,” as Coach Sundin described. They’ll look to carry this momentum into their next game, building on their depth and resilience.