Ottawa, ON – Thursday night in the EOJHL saw he Casselman Vikings outlasting the Ottawa West Golden Knights in a tight divisional matchup, while the Smiths Falls Jr. Bears powered past the Perth Blue Wings in a high-event contest on home ice. Both games delivered momentum swings, special-teams moments, and standout individual performances as the standings continued to tighten.
Casselman 4 Ottawa West 3
The Casselman Vikings pulled out a dramatic 4–3 road win over the Ottawa West Golden Knights on Wednesday night, powered by a late power-play goal from Alexis Lafrance with just 11 seconds remaining.
Casselman received contributions throughout their lineup, starting with Thomas Ranger, who opened the scoring in the first and later added an assist for a two-point night. Edouard Ranger scored his first of the season in the second period, while Kaleb Fogarty added a third-period power-play marker. Lafrance sealed the victory with his 10th of the year in the dying seconds. Tristan Simoneau continued his strong playmaking run with two assists.
Ottawa West kept pace all night, getting goals from Jason Ward, William McCulligh, and Justin Murdoch—who added his seventh of the season in the third period. Thomas Dickey chipped in with two assists, and Dustin Riff turned aside 38 shots in the close loss.
Émile Pagé earned the win in goal for Casselman, stopping 28 shots.
With the victory, the Vikings improve to 12-3-0-0, while Ottawa West drops to 13-2-2-0.
Smiths Falls 5 Perth 4
The Smiths Falls Jr. Bears rode a balanced offensive effort to a 5–4 win over the Perth Blue Wings on home ice Wednesday night, breaking a three-game slide and climbing closer to .500 on the season.
Nico Ilias set the tone early with a shorthanded goal and later added another in the second for a two-goal night. Brody Nielissen also had a strong outing with a goal and two assists, factoring heavily into Smiths Falls’ attack. Colton Spooner and Timothy Bourne rounded out the Jr. Bears’ scoring, with Spooner’s power-play tally late in the second standing as a key momentum shift.
Perth battled hard, getting goals from Jack Weir, Arjun Uppal—who scored twice—and Mason Varana, who notched his first of the season. Robbie Wilgosh contributed two assists in the loss.
Cole King made 28 saves to earn the win for Smiths Falls, while Jake Dignard turned away 21 shots for Perth.
With the win, Smiths Falls improves to 8-10-0-0, while Perth falls to 5-8-1-1.
