The Milton Menace now set their sights on a championship!
On Friday, March 1st, the team went to Collingwood for test-run against the Blues. Despite Collingwood being unstoppable for most of the season, the Menace had the upper-hand in head-to-head match-ups, winning the last two of three games.
The Blues scored first late in the first period. With the powerplay marker, Collingwood would take a 1-0 lead into the second period.
Aidan Puley was able to tie things up at the 2:31 mark in the second frame. His 31st goal was assisted by Graeme Macauley and Jayden Levesque. The tie game didn’t last long, though, as the Blues would take the lead once again. They’d be ahead 2-1 at the second intermission.
Evan Grobanopoulos was the unlikely scorer early in the third. His 3rd of the season was assisted by Ivan Fabjan. The Menace were able to hold off the Blues to take the game to overtime.
It eventually reached double overtime, where Collingwood buried the game winner. The Blues beat the Menace 3-2 in 2OT.
In net for the Menace was Forbes Anderson. He stopped 35 of the 38 shots he faced, good for a .921% save percentage.
On Sunday, March 3rd, the Milton Menace held their graduation night, saying goodbye to seven players in their final OJHL regular season game.
The last game of the season was against the Burlington Cougars, a team the Menace are expected to play in the first-round of the playoffs.
It was the captain who started things off for the Menace, with Connor Driscoll netting his 28th of the season. It was assisted by Ivan Fabjan and Joseph Macchione. Fabjan then got his own. His 22nd of the season was assisted by Macchione and Tristan Tremble. He didn’t stop there, as Fabjan then added his 23rd of the year, this time with help from Driscoll and Macchione. The Menace had a 3-0 lead after 20-minutes of action.
In the second period, it was Markus Hicks who finally got on the board. His 1st of the year was scored shorthanded, and was assisted by Graeme Macauley and Madden MacDougall. Justin O’Donnell then got in on the action, potting his 19th of the season. Puley and Graeme Macauley were credited with apples on the goal. The Menace were running away with this one, leading 5-0 at the second intermission.
They seemed to slow down a bit, with O’Donnell getting goal #20 at the 12:39 mark in the third. It was assisted by Driscoll and Evan Grobanopoulos. 30 seconds later, the Cougars got on the board, but that’d be all. Milton beat Burlington, 6-1, to wrap up the season.
In net for the game was Glen Crandall. He stopped 26 of 27 shots, giving him a .962% save percentage.
We now wait for the playoffs. Looking at the standings, the Menace finished with a franchise best 41-12-2-1 record, and 85 points. That placed them in second, in-line to play the 7th placed Burlington Cougars. Their 29-20-1-6 record gave them 65 points this season.
We’ll let you know when the date and time of the first match-up is announced!
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