Picton’s Nick Parodo picked up a pair of road wins for his club this weekend. (Jason Parks/Gazette Staff)
It was a bounce-back kind of weekend for the Picton Pirates.
After dropping a 4-1 decision at home against the Frankford Huskies Thursday, the Pirates left home port in search of road riches and successfully plundered Port Hope and Amherstview on successive nights.
On Saturday, the Pirates scored a pair of shorthanded goals in a 45 second span and that was enough to declaw the Panthers in a 4-1 triumph.
The following night, after spreading joy at the Picton Santa Claus parade, the locals broke a 2-2 tie in the last minute of the second period and skated away from the Jets 6-3.
The two win weekend moved Picton’s record to 13-8-2 and into third place in the Provincial Junior Hockey League’s Tod Division.
Picton Bench Boss Jamie Lane said he was proud of his team’s response after Thursday’s loss. The Pirates generated good offensive opportunities at the Frankford net only to be turned away time and again. On a different night against a different goaltender, the locals are likely discussing a different result. “Give credit to (goaltender) Liam Boyer, he was spectacular,” Mr. Lane said.
Picton opened the scoring midway through the first. Joey Bonter made a drop pass at the blue line to younger brother Jonny. The younger Bonter made a slick move around the Amherstview defender and went upstairs to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
The Pirates doubled their lead early in the second. Ben Smith’s high zone tip off a Caleb Martin point shot at 1:29 made it 2-0.
The Jets responded with a pair to square it up 2-2 but with less than a minute left in the middle frame, the Pirates went to work on the powerplay.
With just 52 seconds left, it was Gerrit Kempers collecting a loose puck in the high slot and firing a rebound past Amherstview starter Tyson Wilcox.
After breaking the deadlock late in the second, Picton would extend the lead for good 38 seconds into the third. Colby Leaver would spot Keenan Wiles streaking to the net and a threaded pass was on on and off the stick of the Carrying Place native and the Pirates pulled ahead to stay 4-2.
The teams traded goals later in the frame with Mr. Wiles bagging his second of the stanza to restore Picton’s two goal cushion. In the late going, Wesley Jackson potted his fourth into a yawning Jets cage to make it 6-3.
Nick Parodo picked up the win in the Picton net. For the Belleville native, it was his sixth win in his last seven starts.
“We played fast, disciplined, and trusted each other, “ the coach said after the game. “When we stick to our structure, we’re a hard team to beat.”
Down 1-0 after one in Port Hope, Picton found themselves benefitting from a terrible Port Hope line change whilst killing a penalty. After clearing the puck from his own blue line, Cole Stevenson chased down the biscuit and fed Mr. Wiles in the slot area for a tap-in goal that made it 1-1 at 8:39.
Under a minute later, Picton’s Braden Davis would take a pass from Mr. Amat off the wall and fire a laser past Panther netminder Aidan Cowan to give the Pirates all the offence they would need on this night.
In the third, Mr. Amat fired home his 14th of the season with help from Ben Smith and Gibson Lakins to put the contest out of reach and Nate Woods added an empty netter to make it a 4-1 final.
Mr. Parodo was solid in the Picton net. After surrendering a first period tally, he was spotless in the second and third, making 15 of his 21 saves over the final 40 minutes.
On Thursday, Mr. Boyer came up big for his club, making 23 saves while foiling Picton time and again. After Frankford scored in the last with just over five minutes left in the first. The contest remained 1-0 at the midway point of the third. Former Pirate Keegan Carr came back to haunt his former club at the 9:50 mark but Picton responded with a power play goal at 15:55 of the third off the stick of Mr. Wiles.
But that was as close as Picton got. Deke Osterhout lit the lamp with under three minutes left to seal the deal for the visitors. Frankford added an empty netter in the late going to make it 4-1 at the buzzer.
Picton has a light week, hosting Tod Division Lakefield on Thursday before enjoying a rare weekend off. Following the visit by the Chiefs, the Pirates are back in action on Thursday, December 11 against Trent Hills.
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