The Bears seemingly got off to a rather rocky start this season, now trailing the stats with six loses and no win after Friday night’s game against the Kanata Lasers, a tough 3:4 loss. No wonder that tempers occasionally flared high. The 282 spectators still got treated to a good game.
Kanata used a power play advantage for gaining an early start in the game with a goal by Austin Paul at 1:39. Ryan Richardson, assisted by Alex Lewis and Cade Helmer, however closed the gab shortly thereafter with a successful shot at the net at 3:49. However the joy didn’t last very long, as Luca Nocita propelled the Lasers to the lead again with a goal less than a minute after at 4:21.
Andrew McKenny’s goal at 5:25 into the second period evened the score board for the Bears once more, the assist credited to Bruce Coltart. But the Lasers countered quickly with a goal by Felix Tourigny at 6:16.
The Laser moved on to extend their lead in the third period with a goal by Liam Markauser at 10:28. Brendan Dempsay brought the Bears back into the game with a score at 17:34, helped by Justin Trudel and Theo Todd. The team then decided to take out goalie Jake Smith in favour of another player at the 18:25 mark, always a risky move, but while it wasn’t crowned with success, they didn’t collect another puck in their own net either.
The Lasers took home the game 4:3. Both teams fired a similar number of shots, 33 for Kanata versus 30 for the Bears. The upcoming games will show if the team can improve their offensive strategies, which are currently one of their weak points.
First Star was awarded to Austin Paul (KAN), Second Star went to Felix Tourigny (KAN), and Andrew McKenney earned Third Star.
