ESTEVAN, Sask. – The Ottawa Junior A Senators picked up a pair of goals from Simon Isabelle and received shutout goaltending courtesy of William Desmarais as part of a 4-0 victory over the Soo Thunderbirds in a Centennial Cup round robin matinee Monday afternoon at Affinity Place in Estevan.
First period play saw the opening 20 minutes go without a goal as the clubs reached the intermission still in search of an initial tally.
However, the Thunderbirds did have one waived off in the frame, which could have given them an all-important lead.
Ottawa was quick to strike in the middle session when Jacob Code came across the Sault Ste. Marie blueline and sent a crisp cross-ice pass across to defenceman Isaac Landry, who darted into the left circle and whipped a shot over the glove of Thunderbirds’ netminder Noah Metivier at 1:45.
The Central Canada Hockey League Bogart Cup-winning Senators had a couple of quality of chances to extend their lead before the midway point of the proceedings, only to be stymied by Metivier, who did his part to keep his side in it.
Another early marker saw Ottawa strike in the first minute of the third as Massimo Gentile put a nice feed out to Isabelle from behind the net, who cut in front and neatly tucked the puck between Metivier’s legs.
Adding another with 9:21 remaining, the Jr. A Sens won a draw that helped Vincent Velocci bury one from the high slot with a well-placed wrist shot.
Putting the game away a couple of shifts later, Isabelle converted off a scramble face-off for his second of the day to wrap-up the win.
The Thunderbirds’ Michael Chaffay did have a great opportunity to snap the shutout in the late going, only to be denied by the glove of Desmarais from point-blank range.
In defeat, the Soo fell to 0-3 at the 10-team event while Ottawa improved to 1-1-1.
The Thunderbirds will wrap-up round robin play Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET versus the Dauphin Kings (MJHL).
Visit hockeycanada.ca/centennialcup for games summaries as well as schedule information and live streaming broadcast links.
Photos: Hockey Canada Images
