Ottawa, ON – A crucial late-December matchup with major standings implications saw the Casselman Vikings grind out a hard-fought 3–2 victory over the Ottawa Jr. Canadians on Tuesday night. The win allows Casselman to pull into a tie with Ottawa for second place in both the EOJHL standings and the Martin Division, while also holding two games in hand.
CASSELMAN 3 OTTAWA 2
Ottawa struck first late in the opening period when Daniel Kyte opened the scoring at 15:23, finishing a play off feeds from Sydney Loreto and Sam Glover to give the Jr. Canadians a 1–0 lead after 20 minutes.
Casselman responded immediately to start the second period, tying the game just 46 seconds in while shorthanded. Tristan Simoneau capitalized on a turnover and beat Ottawa goaltender Jackson Curran, with Skyler Beks and Myles Boudreau credited with the assists. The Vikings continued to build momentum and took their first lead of the night at 9:01 when Cédric Ouimet snapped home his seventh of the season, set up by Makail Poole-Fournier and Marc-Olivier McCarthy, giving Casselman a 2–1 advantage.
Ottawa pushed back in the third period and drew level at 9:51 as Sam Glover finished a passing play from Ryan Coughlan, setting the stage for a tense finish between two of the league’s top teams.
With the game seemingly headed toward overtime, Casselman delivered the decisive blow on the power play. At 18:27, Thomas Ranger converted the eventual game-winner, burying a feed from Marc-Olivier McCarthy to restore the Vikings’ lead late in regulation.
In goal, Myles Boudreau was sharp for Casselman, stopping 30 of 32 shots to earn the win. Jackson Curran turned aside 27 shots for Ottawa in the loss.
Casselman improves to 21-4-0-0, moving into a tie with Ottawa for second place in the EOJHL and Martin Division with two games in hand. Ottawa falls to 21-6-0-0 following the narrow defeat.
