Ethan Beattie made a pair of game saving stops in the late going as he blanked the visiting Campbellford Rebels Sunday evening in a 3-0 win for the Picton Pirates.

The win moved the locals back into third place in the Provincial Junior Hockey League’s Tod Division. With 35 points and a 16-12-3 record, Picton has the same amount of points, 35, as the Port Hope Panthers but the locals three games in hand on the Cats and six games in hand on the Amherstview Jets whom Picton trails for second in the loop by 13 points.

Picton got off to a good start Sunday opening the scoring and adding an insurance marker at the midway point of the first.

Ian Harrison would spot Landon McLellan at the net area at the 10:40 mark of the first and the captain fired home his 18th of the season.

Just over two minutes later, it was Liam Philip charging through the crease area and firing his fifth of the season past Campbellford starter Keaton Lyons for a 2-0 lead.

Ian Harrison. (Gazette Staff)

Picton would have several glorious chances to extend their lead in the second and early in the third but Lyons was sensational in the Rebs net after allowing the game’s first two goals.

Down a man late and perhaps with the game still in question, netminder Beattie came up with a pair of windmill saves on dangerous Rebels volleys that kept the visitors off the score sheet.

With ten seconds left in the game and Lyons on the bench for an extra attacker, Cole Lavender would fire a puck from his own blue line into the heart of the yawning Campbellford cage for his third of the season.

The game was a nice bounce back for Picton who was foiled late in the game on Thursday on a controversial Panthers goal in the late going.

Port Hope opened the scoring at the 7:42 mark of the second when Cole Kimble took advantage of an extended period of time in the Pirates zone to fire home his 21st of the season. 

The Pirates responded at the 14:48 mark when Ian Harrison took a Hosea Aculiak pass in the slot and beat Port Hope starter Joseph Clark to make it 1-1.

The clubs traded goals in the second with Kimble taking a rebound off the boards during a Panthers power play and beating Picton starter Brady Spry to the near post with exactly four minutes left  in the second.

The Pirates would get a late power play in the frame and Cole Stevenson’s attempted pass to the slot area would be deflected past Clark with 15 seconds left to give the Trenton native his 10th goal on the season.

The teams played it close in the third and the contest seemed destined for overtime as the clubs have gone further than 60 minutes in three of their five contests thus far in the 2022-23 campaign however, with the score tied at 2-2, the Panthers parlayed zone time in the Picton end into a chance to win the game.

With a Panther standing over a prone Spry, Drew Clapperton was able to shovel a puck under the Picton goaltender’s pad with 2:40 left to push Port Hope ahead to stay. Cries of goaltender interference form the Pirates bench went unheeded.

The Pirates will welcome Frankford to Huff Estates Arena on Thursday night and then travel to Napanee on Friday.

-Staff