The North Dundas Rockets played two games this past weekend as they travelled to Ottawa to take on the Blackburn Inferno on Fri., Oct. 20, and hosted the South Grenville Rangers on Sat., Oct. 21. The Rockets’ defenseman Brodie Barkley (18) scored two goals and picked up an assist to help the Rockets win both games.       O’Donohue photo

Jeff Moore
Record Staff
CHESTERVILLE — The North Dundas Rockets had two games this past weekend as they travelled to Ottawa to take on the Blackburn Inferno on Friday night and welcomed the expansion South Grenville Rangers on Saturday night.

Rockets 4 Rangers 2
The North Dundas Rockets welcomed the South Grenville Rangers to the Chesterville Arena Sat., Oct. 21, in the NCJHL. The Rockets went into the game in sole possession of third place just two points behind the Gatineau Hull Volant and the Papineau Vikings and with a win could make it a three-way tie.

The Rangers are a competitive team but went into the game with a 2-3 record and sat in an eighth-place tie with four other teams. The Rockets opened the scoring at 5:23 of the first period as Justin Lefebvre riffled a onetimer from Ethan Gallant and McKay Balaton to take a 1-0 lead.

The Rockets made it 2-0 when Brodie Barkley pounded one home from Lefebvre and Gallant at 8:13 on the power play. The Rockets kept the pressure on the Rangers and with just 44 seconds remaining in the opening frame Brad Stitt scored an unassisted goal and the Rockets took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

The Rockets made it 4-0 at 6:21 of the second period as Lefebvre scored his second of the game from Bryden Van Kessel and Barkley. The Rangers finally got on the board when Damon Brown scored from Sam Bell and Dylan Marshall at 7:21 but trailed 4-1 heading into the second intermission.

The Rangers cut the deficit in half when Brody Ranger scored from Devon Burns and Marshall at 2:07 of the third period. The Rangers pressed hard to close the gap outshooting the Rockets 14-6 in the final period but it was the Rockets taking the game 4-2.

The Rockets moved into a three-way tie at the top of the standings with the two Quebec-based teams. Picking up the win in the Rockets’ goal was Jason Buma making 33 saves on 35 shots and suffering the loss in the Rangers’ goal was Sam Limoges Ring making 23 saves on 27 shots.

Rockets 7 Inferno 3
The North Dundas Rockets travelled to the Blackburn Arena in Ottawa to take on the Blackburn Inferno on Fri., Oct. 20, in the NCJHL. The Rockets went into the home-and-home game with four wins and two losses as they looked to make it two in a row against the Inferno.

The Inferno dropped the previous game against the Rockets by a score of 8-3 and have only two wins on the season. The Inferno opened the scoring at 7:23 of the first period to take a 1-0 lead but the Rockets tied the game with just 1:16 remaining in the opening frame as Bryden Van Kessel snapped a onetimer from Jack Van Kessel. The teams took a one-all draw into the first intermission.

The Rockets took their first lead of the game when Bryden Van Kessel scored his second at 4:25 of the second period from Brad Stitt. The Rockets took a two-goal lead when Brodie Barkley blasted one to the back of the net from Justin Lefebvre and Bailey Norman at 5:46.

The Rockets made it a 4-1 game when Lefebvre scored an unassisted goal at 14:48. The Inferno got one back at 17:40 but trailed 4-2 heading into the second intermission. The Rockets made it 5-2 when Chris Marchand powered a onetimer from Bryden Van Kessel at 4:59 of the third period.

The Rockets didn’t let up and at 5:30 Landon Veenstra sniped one from Marchand and Bryden Van Kessel. The Inferno got to within three at 7:09 but the Rockets made it 7-3 when Marchand scored his second of the game from Veenstra and Stitt.

The Rockets held on for the 7-3 victory moving into third place just two points behind the Papineau Vikings and the Gatineau Hull-Volant who were tied in first. Picking up the win in the Rockets’ goal was Jason Buma.

Up next: Fri., Oct. 27, at 7:30 p.m., Rockets vs. Gatineau Hull-Volant, Robert Guertin Arena, Gatineau; Sat., Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m., Rockets vs. Clarence Castors, Chesterville Arena.