Ottawa, ON – Both Division Finals continued Saturday night with the top seeds tightening their grip on their respective series. The Smiths Falls Jr. Bears followed up their Game 1 shutout with another offensive explosion in Renfrew, while the Casselman Vikings won a high-scoring battle in Ottawa. Both teams now hold 2–0 series leads.
Smiths Falls 7, Renfrew 3
Smiths Falls overcame an early deficit and took full control with a dominant special teams performance to secure Game 2.
Renfrew came out strong, opening the scoring just 55 seconds in as Parker Evans found the net off assists from Mannix Hart and Ian Burnett. The Timberwolves doubled their lead at 10:52 on the power play when Nathan Donohue scored with help from Connor Hanniman and Dan Enright.
Smiths Falls responded late in the first period. Gabriel Waito got the Bears on the board at 14:53 before Lincoln Chalmers tied the game at 18:58 on the power play, assisted by Caleb Bourne.
The Bears took over in the second period. Jordan Parsons gave Smiths Falls the lead at 9:00 on the power play, followed by Nathan Hovila at 14:01 and Luke Humby at 18:36 — also on the man advantage — to make it 5–2 after two periods.
Renfrew got one back shorthanded early in the third when Caleb Scott scored at 3:45, but Smiths Falls quickly shut the door. Caleb Bourne restored the three-goal lead at 6:10 on the power play, and Parsons added another late to cap off the 7–3 victory.
Matthew Saari made 23 saves in the win.
With the victory, Smiths Falls takes a 2–0 series lead.
Casselman 7, Ottawa 5
The Casselman Vikings leaned on their depth and timely scoring to outlast Ottawa in a back-and-forth Game 2.
Casselman opened the scoring early when Tristan Webb found the net at 3:45, but Ottawa responded quickly with goals from Ryan Coughlan and Daniel Kyte to take the lead.
The Vikings answered in a big way before the end of the first period. Webb scored his second of the night at 11:04, Tristan Simoneau gave Casselman the lead on the power play at 16:07, and Mathieu Cloutier added another just under a minute later to make it 4–2 after one.
Ottawa pushed back in the second period with goals from Joshua Weekes and Riley Bloom to tie the game, but Jeremy Bessette restored Casselman’s lead at 17:37 on the power play.
Casselman added to its lead early in the third when Simon Toupin scored at 1:53. Ottawa got one back midway through the period as Mathias Prud’homme-Foster scored, but Cloutier sealed the game with an empty-net goal at 18:30.
Myles Boudreau made 30 saves in the win.
With the victory, Casselman takes a 2–0 series lead in the Martin Division Final.
