Buoyed by a strong performance against the top ranked Carleton Place Canadians on Friday night despite a 3-1 loss the Bears bounced back with a strong 3-0 road victory in Hawkesbury on Saturday night.
The 1st period stats are a little misleading as an evenly played opening 20 minutes was not apparent on the shot clock as the Bears were outshot 11-3.
The Bears got more pucks to the Hawks net in the 2nd period as they outshot the home team 13-11 and scored the icebreaker at 17:38 when Mitchell Larabie scored his 10th of the year on a nifty set up from Alex DiCarlo.
The Bears team defense and stellar play began to frustrate the Hawks and the 3rd period turned into a chippy affair. Special teams were the factor as the Bears tallied twice on the power play while the Bears penalty killing went a perfect 3 for 3. At 9:09 Kris Lalonde scored his 3rd of the campaign on the power play as he banged in a goal mouth rebound. DiCarlo and Hunter Garlasco registered the assists. Bruce Coltart put the game out of reach with his 5th of the season at 16:15 when his point shot beat a screened Hawkesbury goalie. Bruce’s older brother Ethan recorded the lone assist on the goal. Smiths Falls outshot Hawkesbury 9-7 for the period but Hawkesbury held a 29-25 advantage for the game.
Brad Dobson’s 4th shutout of the year leads the CCHL in that category and is a career high for the native of Moose Factory Ontario.
DiCarlo was chosen 1st star while Larabie took 2nd star honours.
The Bears continue their playoff push on Tuesday night at the Bears Den as the Nepean Raiders come to town. This is the rescheduled game that was postponed originally on January 12th.
