The North Dundas Rockets welcomed the West Carleton Inferno to the Chesterville Arena on Fri., Jan. 24, in the NCJHL. The Rockets’ alternate captain, Jarrett Williams (27), gets stripped of the puck as he tries to cut toward the net. Things were going great for the Rockets in the first period jumping out to a 5-1 lead but the Inferno battled back tying the game at eight with four seconds remaining in regulation and taking the game 9-8. Moore photo
VANKLEEK HILL—The North Dundas Rockets played a pair of games they would rather forget as they welcomed the West Carleton Inferno on Friday night and travelled to Vankleek Hill on Sunday afternoon to take on the Cougars. The Rockets were supposed to have played the Morrisburg Lions on Saturday night but it was postponed due to inclement weather.
Cougars 8 Rockets 3
The North Dundas Rockets travelled to the Vankleek Hill Arena on Sun., Jan. 26, to take on the Cougars in the NCJHL. The Rockets were coming off one of their most embarrassing losses of the season after dropping a 9-8 decision to the West Carleton Inferno two nights earlier; dropping their record below .500 as they looked to turn things around.
The Cougars opened the scoring at 8:29 of the first period taking a 1-0 lead and made it 2-0 at 14:06. The Rockets cut the deficit in half when Brody Barkley blasted one home from Xavier Langevin and Cole Hodges at 16:26. The Cougars took a
2-1 lead into the first intermission.
It was all Cougars in the second period as they scored five unanswered goals at 1:05, 5:16, 10:23 while shorthanded, at 17:20 and 17:39. The Cougars took a
7-1 lead into the second intermission.
The Rockets got one back at 11:17 when Langevin snapped one home from Hodges to make it 7-2. The Rockets closed the gap to four when Joel Hunt ripped one to the back of the net from Nicholas Carroll and Justin Lefebvre on the power play at 14:37.
The Cougars closed out the scoring at 14:48 taking the game 8-3, handing the Rockets their 14th loss of the season. Suffering the loss in the Rockets’ goal was Sebastien Moreau.
Inferno 9 Rockets 8
The North Dundas Rockets welcomed the West Carleton Inferno to the Chesterville Arena on Fri., Jan. 24, in the NCJHL. The Rockets went into the game in second place in the West Division, eight points ahead of the Metcalfe Jets in fourth and 25 points behind the first place South Grenville Rangers.
The Rockets opened the scoring when Justin Lefebvre ripped one home from Joel Hunt and Jarrett Williams at 3:02 of the first period taking a 1-0 lead. The Inferno tied the game at 11:35 but the Rockets retook the lead at 14:59 as Will Watson slammed one home from Cameron Brown.
The Rockets made it 3-1 when Cole Hodges snapped one to the back of the net from Matt Pietrkiewicz and Xavier Langevin at 16:35.
The Rockets took a three-goal lead at 17:05 as Hunt fired one home from Hodges and Langevin and a four-goal lead as Williams tapped one home from Lefebvre and Brown at 16:39. The Rockets took a 5-1 lead into the first intermission.
The Inferno got to within three at 5:10 of the second period but the Rockets retook a four-goal lead at 8:35 as Brett Lannin snuck one through the goalie’s pads unassisted. The Inferno scored three unanswered goals at 12:19, 14:03 and 15:28. The Rockets took a 6-5 lead into the second intermission.
The Inferno tied the game at six, at 9:23 while shorthanded but the Rockets restored the lead when Langevin sniped one from Pietrkiewicz and Hodges at 14:17. The Rockets retook a two-goal lead when Watson scored his second of the game from Brad Nash and Devon Thompson.
It appeared as the Rockets were headed for their 13th win of the season but the Inferno made it interesting, scoring with just 14 seconds remaining in regulation. Then with four seconds remaining, the Inferno was awarded a penalty shot and made it count, tying the game at eight.
The teams ended regulation in an eight-all draw so the game headed to a five-minute three-on-three overtime period. The Inferno completed their comeback at 1:33 of overtime taking the game 9-8 and handing the Rockets their 13th loss of the season. The Rockets outshot the Inferno 45-32.
Suffering the loss in the Rockets’ goal was Emerson Hunt making 21 saves.
Up next
The North Dundas Rockets travel to the Bernard-Grandmaître Arena in Ottawa to take on the Bytown Royals on Fri., Jan. 31, at 8:15 p.m., welcome the Metcalfe Jets to the Chesterville Arena on Sat., Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. and the South Grenville Rangers on Sun., Feb. 2 at 3:15 p.m.
