ESPANOLA – Cole Braney and Andrew Demarco each scored in the shootout and goalie Trevor Kalinowski stopped two shots as the Espanola Rivermen won a thrilling 1-0 shootout game over the Batchewana Attack in Canadian International Hockey League action Friday night.
The 586 fans in attendance were treated to playoff-style hockey at the Espanola Regional Recreation Centre, as Kalinowski and his counterpart, Attack netminder Shane Lippincott were outstanding in this game, with the Espanola goalie making 41 saves and Lippincott stopping 36 pucks.
The shutout was Kalinowski’s second of the year and improved his record to 5-4 with a goals-against average of 3.10. Lippincott’s record is 2-0-0-1 and an average 1.14. The defeat was the first for the Attack this season, who now have a record of 13-0-0-1, still tops in the league. The Rivermen are now 10-5 for second place in the CIHL, with their third straight win.
“A super game tonight in Espy,” said Rivermen head coach Tom McCarthy. “Both teams battled for 65 minutes tonight at both ends of the rink. Its great to see our boys battling every night now. Tonight I think we just out goaled them as Trevor was flawless saving every puck thrown his way.”
‘I give a lot of credit to Tom, he had his team ready to play,” said Attack head coach Denny Lambert. “We didn’t create enough traffic in front of their goalie. This was the best game we played in all season. Both teams were good and it came down to an exciting three on three, to a shootout. Looking forward to the rematch at home on Sunday.”
Espanola GM Chad Clarke was very excited for both teams “considering all the baloney the kids on all teams have been put through the past 3 weeks, it is very encouraging when our fans are leaving the rink smiling and very happy with the level of play and entertainment provided by both hockey clubs” said Clarke “both Coach Lambert and Coach McCarthy are second to none at this game as bench bosses, the way they each have their teams playing is exciting to watch for all area junior hockey fans, Sunday will be a tough rematch, the Attack are even better at home and can play hockey with any team at this level throughout North America” added Clarke “hats off to the kids and coach’s on both teams, now if we can only get our remaining CIHL Hockey partners to buy in, all our fans are in for a very entertaining winter and some very exciting junior hockey”
The Rivermen are on the road today for a game with the new Markstay-Warren Spirit Warriors at 7 p.m.
