LANTZ: Alex Roode’s second goal of the game stood as the game winner as the East Hants Senior Penguins held off the Antigonish Bulldogs in a chippy game.
The Nova Scotia Senior Hockey League match was played at the Keith Miller Arena in the East Hants Sportsplex in Lantz.
There was a large crowd on hand as it was Minor Hockey Night and many young players from East Hants Minor Hockey were in the crowd to see the exciting and hard fought battle between two teams that are not on each other’s Christmas card mailing list.
Roode’s first goal gave the Pens a 2-1 first period lead at 14:47 when Ryan Daley fed him the puck.
Daley sent a long pass to Roode and it appeared to miss his stick and so the Bulldogs seemed to think it was icing but the linesmen said it tipped off Roode’s stick.
The player then picked up the puck as it careened out off the board to the side of the net on to his stick and he didn’t make no mistake wiring it behind the Antigonish goalie.
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Regan Spears credited the Bulldogs for putting forward a tough effort as the Pens expected.
“They came out a little hard as we expected them too after our last game when we beat them bad at the start of the eyar,” he said in a post game interview. “They’ve been playing us a little tighter since then.”
Spears was ecstatic with the large crowd on hand saying East Hants is one of the best spots he played in his career.
“We love the fan support, it’s the best anywhere,” he said. “It’s sweet to see.”
He spoke about how the game got rough in the last five minutes.
“That’s senior hockey, there’s always going to be that chippyness to it,” said Spears. “We’re big boys we can handle it.”
“The next game when we play them it’ll likely be a bit hostile, but that’s when we perform at our best.”
Besides Roode, East Hants had tallies come from Daley; Tyler Noseworthy; and Tyler Pike.
Assists were credited to Pike; Daley; Shayne Gillis; Jordan Wentzell; and Regan Spears.
The two teams combined for 34 penalty minutes, with the Penguins getting 16 of those minutes.
Bryan Gillis came away with the goaltending win stopping 29 of 33 pucks.
It didn’t look good early as the Bulldogs got out to a 2-0 lead, but once the Pens found their legs and got going Gillis locked down in net and gave the team a shot to grab the come from behind victory.
On Saturday in Truro, the Pens faced rival Truro Bearcats and lost 4-2.
East Hants is back in action on Jan. 10 when they head to Antigonish for a 7:30 p.m. start. They will then face the Pipers in a home and home, first Jan. 16 in Trenton at 7:30 p.m. then in Lantz at 8 p.m. on Jan. 17.
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