Win over Perth Sunday boosts Thunder's playoff chances

Posted Feb 2, 2012 By John Carter

Click to Enlarge
Almonte Thunder goalie Chad Hetherington made 47 saves as he kept his team in the game against division-leading Arnprior in Pakenham last Friday.

Sherry Haaima

Almonte Thunder goalie Chad Hetherington made 47 saves as he kept his team in the game against division-leading Arnprior in Pakenham last Friday.

EMC Sports - The Almonte Thunder ended a five-game home stand on a winning note with a 7-4 victory over Perth Blue Wings Sunday.

It was an eventful weekend for the Thunder, who are in a fierce battle for a playoff spot in the Eastern Ontario Junior B Hockey League's Valley Division.

Almonte gained a valuable point in a thrilling 5-4 overtime loss to Arnprior Packers in Pakenham Friday. The Thunder gave the runaway division leaders all they could handle before being done in by a former teammate.

Division scoring leader Derek Lowry, traded by the Thunder to Arnprior three weeks ago, tallied with two seconds left in overtime on a set-up by last year's Valley Division most valuable player Taylor Collins to give Arnprior its ninth straight win (the Packers have 17 wins and a tie in their last 18 games).

A deflated Almonte squad came out flat Saturday and lost 6-1 to Stittsville Royals at home.

In danger of falling out of a playoff spot, Almonte rebounded Sunday, coming back from 3-2 and 4-3 deficits to defeat second-place Perth.

The Thunder took a 2-0 lead with power-play markers by Kyle Killeen and Andrew Rowbotham. However, Perth responded with three straight goals to move ahead 3-2 by the game's half-way mark. Aaron MacCosham pulled Almonte even before the second period expired.

After Blair Barr's power-play goal early in the third gave Perth back the lead, Almonte erupted for three goals in less than six minutes. MacCosham and Rowbotham struck for their second goals of the game and Tyler Ollson scored an unassisted marker for the Thunder.

Scott Hawkins and MacCosham, who had four points in the game, set up Drake Clancy for Almonte's seventh goal in the last minute.

Chad Hetherington made 38 saves in the Thunder net, as Perth outshot Almonte 42-36.

The crucial win gives third-place Almonte 30 points and a three-point cushion over hard-charging Stittsville and Renfrew, who are tied for fourth and the final playoff spot with 27 points each.

Stittsville jumped into the playoff race with three wins on the weekend, two over Shawville and one over Almonte. Renfrew gained three points with a win over Metcalfe and a tie with Perth, as the playoff race heats up.

Clancy was the only Thunder player to beat Stittsville netminder Karsten Pankhurst Saturday His tally half-way through the third was much too late to influence the outcome, as Stittsville was already ahead 5-0 thanks in large part to a Scott Barnes hat-trick.

Harry Hayes took the loss in the Almonte net.

Friday's Pakenham Frost Fest tilt gave the fans their money's worth. Rowbotham started the scoring on the power-play at 8:34 of the first, but Mitch Parker tied it for Arnprior with just over a minute left in the opening stanza.

Thunder retook the lead with a power-play goal by MacCosham at 6:39 of the second and Rowbotham made it 3-1 less than a minute later. However, the Packers tallied twice at 14:45 and 15:57 to draw even. Clancy then gave the Thunder a 4-3 lead by scoring at 16:26.

Early in the third period Parker Davies scored his second goal of the game to knot the score again.

Neither team was able to beat the goalies through the rest of the third period and for all but two seconds of overtime, until Lowry struck against his old team. Hetherington stopped 47 shots as Arnprior outshot Almonte 52-43, including 5-3 in overtime.

Almonte successfully killed off all four of its penalties and scored twice on the power-play.

The Thunder will have to make the playoffs the hard way. They play five of their seven final games on the road, starting with an encounter in Ottawa Tuesday (after press deadline).

This coming weekend Almonte plays two of the teams with whom they are scrapping for a playoff spot. They sandwich games in Renfrew Friday and Perth Sunday with a 7:30 p.m. home game Saturday against Stittsville.

Their final home game is Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m. against division cellar-dweller Shawville.

This year's Metro/Valley Conference all-star festivities are being hosted by the Metcalfe Jets Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Walter Baker Sports Centre in Ottawa.