WINDSOR, N.S. - The Avon View Avalanche recorded their sixth win in a row Jan. 19, but the Northeast Kings Titans didn’t make it easy.
The Titans held off an early push from the Avon View Avalanche in Windsor and ended up taking an early 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Cole Phillips.
The Avalanche then ran into penalty trouble and held on for the second half of the opening period, in which the Titans held the majority of the play, finishing with a 15-13 shots advantage.
The Avalanche’s coaching staff had a chat with the team in between periods and the boys hit the ice strong for the second period, outshooting the Titans 10-0.
Despite the pressure, the Avalanche remained scoreless due to the solid play of NKEC goalie Cam Kinsman.
Avalanche defenceman Blake Rogers completed an end to end rush on a penalty kill to tie the game 1-1 with 12:41 left in the second period. Only 32 seconds later, Ethan Salsman, with Rogers assisting, buried another shorthanded goal on a nice rush to make it 2-1.
Keeping the pressure on, Rogers scored a power-play goal just 2:20 later.
The Titans would not sit back quietly and pushed back, quieting the Avalanche faithful with two quick goals of their own. Titans goal scorers were Jensen Jodrey and captain Bryce Dauphinee.
It looked like the game was going to remain tied 3-3 heading into the third but Dan Lord scored a power-play marker with three seconds showing on the clock to give the Avalanche a 4-3 lead.
Avon View outshot the Titans 21-10 in the middle period.
The Titans were looking to make a big push in the third period but the Avalanche refused to give in and captain Hayden Burgess scored to ensure a win.
Final shots on goal were 53-31 in favour of Avon View.
The win for the Avalanche marked their sixth in a row after getting off to a 4-3 start with all three losses coming at the hands of the Parkview Panthers, who are in first place with a 12-0-0 record.
Assistant coach Glen Earley said the team is still not ruling out a run at the provincials.
To win the Western Zone, he explained they will have to defeat Horton in a one-game sudden death and if they do that, they will have to do the same against Parkview.
A loss against Parkview would put the Avalanche into a one-game sudden death against the fourth place finisher in the Metro High School Hockey Playoffs.
Earley added he would “far prefer” playing one sudden death game than having to play Parkview in a Best of 3 series.
The Avalanche will conclude the home portion of their regular season with a game against the West Kings Wolverines Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. before playing their final four regular season games on the road.
