The Vikings’ forward Joel Hunt (22) tries to wage one home as the Rebels’ goalie, Julien Cholette (33) covers the puck. Hunt picked up an assist as the Vikings put it to the Rebels 7-0. Moore photo
Jeff Moore
Record Staff
CASSELMAN—The Casselman Vikings played three games this past week as they travelled to Ottawa on Tuesday night to take on the Jr. Canadians, welcomed the Winchester Hawks on Thursday night and the Char-Lan Rebels on Sunday night.
Vikings 7 Rebels 0
The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Char-Lan Rebels to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Sun., Dec. 16, in the CCHL2. The Vikings went into the game sitting in second place, eight points behind the Ottawa Jr. Canadians in first place.
The Vikings opened the scoring when Mathieu Talbot lit the lamp for the 10th time this season at 11:38 of the first period from Gabriel Rousselle and Evan Boucher to take a 1-0 lead. The Vikings made it 2-0 when Mikael House slapped his first goal at a Vikings from Joel Hunt and Riley MacDonald at 13:32.
The Vikings opened up a three-goal lead when Louis Chabot scored his 10th of the season from Brady Cloutier with 2:22 remaining in the opening frame. The Vikings took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
The teams battled to a scoreless draw in the second period with the Vikings carrying over the 3-0 lead into the second intermission. The Vikings made it 4-0 when Samuel Mattie scored his 10th of the season from Mikael Bissonnette and Joshua Paledeau just 1:36 into the third period.
The Vikings took a five-goal lead when Houle scored his second of the game and of the season at 3:20 from Rousselle and Riley MacDonald on the power play. Boucher scored his fourth of the season at 4:43 from Talbot and Pierce Britton on another power play to give the Vikings a 6-0 lead.
The Vikings closed out the scoring when MacDonald scored his second of the season from Chabot at 15:27. The Vikings took the game convincingly 7-0 moving to within six points of the first place Canadians. The Vikings outshot the Rebels 38-24. Picking up the shutout was Nick Campbell making 24 saves.
Hawks 4 Vikings 3
The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Winchester Hawks to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Thurs., Dec. 12, in the CCHL2. The Vikings were coming off an important win over the first place, Ottawa Junior Canadians and moved to within nine points of first place. The Hawks went into the game with five affiliated players and a short bench.
The Vikings opened the scoring when Brendan Lynch scored his first goal with the Vikings just 2:57 into the first period from Mikael Bissonnette and Frederick Gagnier, taking a 1-0 lead. The Vikings made it 2-0 when Evan Boucher scored his third of the season from Mathieu Talbot and Brandon Legare at 10:54.
The Hawks cut into the Vikings’ lead when Danny Johnson scored his 11th of the season from William MacDonald and Kyle Kuehni at 11:33. The Hawks tied the game when MacDonald scored his fifth of the season from Kuehni and Colby Byrnes-Shaw at 14:33.
The teams took a two-all stalemate into the first intermission. The Vikings retook the lead when Gagnier scored his 12th of the season unassisted at 8:09 of the second period. The Hawks answered at 9:45 when MacDonald scored his second of the game and sixth of the season from Johnson, tying them at three.
The Hawks took their first lead of the game when MacDonald completed his hat trick scoring his seventh of the season from Kuehni and Johnson at 14:27. The Hawks took the 4-3 lead into the second intermission.
The two teams battled to a scoreless third period despite the Vikings outshooting the Hawks 22-3 in the final stanza. The Hawks took the game upsetting the Vikings 4-3. With the loss, the Vikings failed to gain ground on the Canadians.
With the win, the Hawks moved back into sixth place, one point ahead of the Embrun Panthers in seventh. The Vikings outshot the Hawks 55-16 but the Hawks goalie, Lucas Devries was dialed-in making 52 saves and picking up the win. The Vikings’ Mathieu Chenier was charged with the loss making 12 saves.
Vikings 3 Canadians 2
The Casselman Vikings travelled to the Earl Armstrong Arena in Ottawa to take on the Ottawa Jr. Canadians on Tues., Dec. 11, in the CCHL2. The Vikings went into the game 10 points behind the first place Canadians in the Martin Division. It was an important game for the Vikings if they had their eyes on first place. The game was a huge four-point game.
The Vikings opened the scoring when Mathieu Talbot scored his ninth goal of the season unassisted at 12:19 of the first period taking a 1-0 lead. The Canadians outshot the Vikings 16-11 but trailed 1-0 heading into the first intermission.
The Vikings made it 2-0 when Brandon Legare scored his seventh of the season while shorthanded and unassisted at 8:46 of the second period. The Canadians cut the deficit in half just 19 seconds later but the Vikings regained their two-goal advantage at 14:44 when Louis Chabot banged home his ninth of the season from Andrew Black and Shawn Patterson on the power play.
It appeared that the Vikings were heading to the dressing room for the second intermission with a two-goal lead but with just 21 seconds remaining in the middle frame, the Canadians got back to within one on the power play.
Once again, the Canadians outshot the Vikings 22-18 in the middle frame but still trailed by a goal. The Canadians held the Vikings to just one shot in the third period but were unable to score on the nine shots they fired toward the net as the Vikings hung on for the 3-2 victory.
With the victory, the Vikings moved to within eight points of the Canadians at the top of the pile. The Canadians outshot the Vikings 47-30. Picking up the win and the first star of the game was Mathieu Chenier making 45 saves.
