Gerrit Kempers had the game’s opening goal Thursday night as his Picton Pirates bested the visiting Amherstview Jets 2-1. (Jason Parks/Gazette Staff)
In more ways than one, the Picton Pirates’ win over visiting Amherstview Thursday night was a much needed result for the local Provincial Junior Hockey League team.
With just two regular season games left, Picton needs every point possible in order to maintain its tenuous hold on third place in the Tod Division. The clubs chasing them – primarily the Jets – have multiple games in hand. A clean win was key last Thursday.
But for the Pirates, just beating the Jets was a key feat. While there’s not much separating Amherstview and Picton in the standings at this point, the Bucs had yet to defeat the Jets in five previous meetings.
That was until Thursday night, when Picton put together a tidy, playoff-like effort and shaded the visitors 2-1.
Picton netminder Nolan Lane came up big for his squad, making 31 stops for his 17th win of the campaign.
Two goals by Gerrit Kempers and Kirk Stevenson kept Picton ahead of the Jets’ only success from former Pirate Carter McKee.
With the win, Picton moves three points clear of the fourth place Jets and four points ahead of the Lakefield Chiefs. The Jets have two games in hand on Picton while the Chiefs have one. Coincidentally, Lakefield travels to Amherstview on Saturday for a game in which the Pirates will be praying for a non-three point affair.
While their prospects for finishing no worse than fourth in the Tod are promising, Lakefield could win their last two games and hold the tiebreaker over Picton.
In addition to playing the Chiefs, the Jets still have a tough road in their second-to-last game of the regular season involving a visit to Division-leading Napanee on Friday.
The Pirates wind up their regular season at home against Frankford Thursday night for their Pink in the Rink cancer fundraising event. At least a point in that game secures fourth place. Two points and a cough by the Jets the following night means Picton will finish third and play Port Hope in the first round of the Schmalz Cup playoffs. Otherwise, their opening round opponent is Lakefield.
In other hockey action, the Hockey Association for the Developmentally Challenged Gladiators are returning to Picton on Saturday, February 15th to play the Northumberland Bulldogs. Composed of players with Down Syndrome, Autism, and other special needs, the teams are co-ed and open to players of all ages. The action gets underway at 2:30 p.m. and admission is free.
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