The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Arnprior Packers to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Thurs., Jan. 9, in the CCHL2. The Vikings’ forwards Xavier Léveillé (24) and Jason Cossette get in the Packers’ goalie, Scott Cameron’s kitchen as his defender, Ryan Jordan (5) tries to help out. The Vikings needed overtime to get past the Packers with a 2-1 win, their first of 2020. Moore photo

EMBRUN—The Casselman Vikings played a pair of games this past weekend as they welcomed the Arnprior Packers on Thursday night and travelled to Embrun on Friday night to take on the Panthers. 

Panthers 3 Vikings 1

The Casselman Vikings travelled to the Palais des Sports in Embrun on Fri., Jan. 10, to take on the Panthers in the CCHL2. The Vikings went into the game in fourth place in the Martin Division, seven points behind the Panthers who sat in third place and eight points behind the second place Ottawa Jr. Canadians. 

The Vikings were coming off their first win in 2020 against the Arnprior Packers while the Panthers thus far in 2020 have been undefeated. 

The teams battled to a scoreless first period with the Vikings narrowly outshooting the Panthers 13-12. The Panthers took the first lead of the game when Riley Carisse scored his third goal of the season from Tristan Taillefer and Nathan Everett just 1:03 into the second period. 

The teams played a more defensive style for the remainder of the period and the Panthers took the 1-0 lead into the second intermission. The Panthers made it 2-0 when Marshall Drevniok scored his ninth of the season from Taillefer and Carisse just 39 seconds into the third period. 

The Vikings cut the deficit in half when Mathieu Talbot scored his 19th of the campaign from Shawn Patterson on the power play at 14:06. With time winding down in regulation, the Vikings pulled their goalie in favour of an extra attacker but with just 35 seconds remaining, the Panthers turned the tables as Drevniok scored his second of the game and 10th of the season from Carter Peck in the empty goal. The Panthers took the game 3-1 and moved back into sole possession of second place. 

The Vikings outshot the Panthers 41-26. Picking up the win in the Panthers’ goal was William Nguyen making 40 saves and suffering the loss in the Vikings’ goal was Nick Campbell making 23 saves.

Vikings 2 Packers 1 (OT)

The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Arnprior Packers to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Thurs., Jan. 9, in the CCHL2. The Vikings went into the game in fourth place in the Martin Division, eight points behind the third place Ottawa Jr. Canadians and just three points up on the Winchester Hawks in fifth. 

The Vikings were riding one of their worst losing streaks in franchise history and looked to get back to winning. The Vikings dominated early in the first period and at 12:33 they took the lead as Jason Cossette scored his 15th goal of the season from returning Isaac Landry and Zachary Fournier. 

The Vikings outshot the Packers 21-5 in the opening frame but took just a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. The Packers came out a little more focused in the second period and tied the game at 10:34 while shorthanded. 

The Packers outshot the Vikings in the second 11-7. The teams took a one-all draw into the second intermission. The teams battled to a scoreless third period with the Vikings outshooting the Packers 15-7. 

The game then headed to a five-minute three-on-three overtime period. As time was winding down in the extra frame, the Vikings’ Alexandre Charlebois fired home his 10th of the season from Joshua Desjardins with just 1:06 remaining, taking the game 2-1. 

With the win, the Vikings moved five points ahead of the Hawks and just six points behind the Canadians. The Vikings outshot the Packers 45-25 in the game. 

Picking up the win in the Vikings’ goal was Nick Campbell making 24 saves.

Up next

The Casselman Vikings welcome the Alexandria Glens to the J. R. Brisson Complex on Thurs., Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m.