Ottawa, ON – The Divisional Semi-Finals opened Monday night with statement performances. Ottawa stormed into enemy territory and handed Ottawa West a convincing Game 1 defeat in the Martin Division showdown, while Arnprior protected home ice against Renfrew to seize early control of the Richardson Division series. With intensity already elevated, both matchups are off to electric starts.
Ottawa 6, Ottawa West 2
The Battle of Ottawa lived up to its billing early, but the Jr Canadians quickly turned momentum into a decisive Game 1 victory.
Ottawa West opened the scoring just 3:36 into the contest when Max Shewfelt found the back of the net off a feed from Gavin McCarthy. The response from Ottawa was immediate. Just 28 seconds later, Mattias Côté tied the game, finishing a setup from Jacob Perreault and Thomas Robillard.
The tide turned for good late in the first period. Danik Marion gave Ottawa the lead at 13:46 off a play from Sydney Loreto and Sam Glover, and just over a minute later Glover struck on the power play, converting a return pass from Loreto to make it 3–1 after one.
Ottawa kept pressing in the second. Perreault extended the lead midway through the frame off a Riley Bloom assist, before Dax McKinnon added another late in the period to stretch the advantage to four.
Mathias Prud’homme-Foster put the game firmly out of reach early in the third with Ottawa’s sixth goal. Ottawa West managed a power-play marker from Seamus Lockhart, but it was far too little, far too late.
Jackson Curran delivered a strong performance in goal, stopping 44 of 46 shots in the win. Ottawa now takes a 1–0 series lead in the Martin Division Semi-Final.
Arnprior 6, Renfrew 3
Arnprior showed why it earned the top seed in the Richardson Division, using a five-goal run across the first two periods to overpower Renfrew in Game 1.
Renfrew struck first when Ricky Wilson opened the scoring at 3:59 of the first period. Arnprior answered midway through the frame as Alex Oster tied the game off a feed from Gabriel Tremblay, before Ethan Smith gave the Packers their first lead shortly after.
The second period belonged entirely to Arnprior. Rowan Casey scored just 26 seconds in, Andrew Mark followed minutes later, and Casey struck again midway through the frame to build a commanding 5–1 lead.
Renfrew mounted a late push in the third with back-to-back power-play goals from Blake Egan and Liam Haggerty, cutting the deficit to two and injecting late tension into the contest.
Any comeback hopes ended at 17:31 when Carter Downs sealed the win with an empty-net goal off a Casey assist.
Cole King turned aside 36 shots in the victory as Arnprior takes a 1–0 series lead in the Richardson Division Semi-Final.
