The Xpertek Hockey News

Ugly victory for Xpertek Construction
Team loses steam in second period, holds on for the win

Ottawa – It wasn’t pretty, but in the end it was another victory for Xpertek Construction in OSMHL action last night. After skating out to a quick first period lead, it was a late powerplay goal that gave Xpertek the necessary breathing room to hang on for a 3-1 win.

John Richardson opened the scoring on a beautifully orchestrated passing play that began in the neutral zone when Richardson himself made a nifty drop pass to centre Marc Baril, who was speeding through the middle.

As he carried the puck into the Chiefs zone along the right boards, Baril held up just inside the blueline, drawing two defenders towards him before saucering a brilliant pass to Richardson who was streaking into the slot. With one hand on his stick, Richardson magically tipped the puck behind the Chiefs netminder to give Xpertek an early 1-0 lead. The goal was, as Richardson would later say, “a TSN Highlight of the Night candidate for sure.”

Baril and Richardson later combined to set up sniper Tony Lemay, whose fourth goal of this young season allowed Xpertek to skate into the intermission nursing what appeared to be an insurmountable 2-0 lead.

Early in the second period, the Chiefs managed to cut that lead in half, converting quickly after Xpertek’s Martin Leroux had been sent off for holding.

Leroux was obviously upset with what appeared to be a marginal call, voicing his displeasure with the referee all the way to the penalty box and later slamming the gate with mighty force for good measure.

“That was a horseshit call by a horseshit referee,” Leroux said after the game, before toning down the rhetoric for fear that OSMHL Commissioner Carman Cox might levy a fine or even a suspension for the comments.

Leroux would atone for the penalty later in the period, scoring a powerplay marker of his own with a laser wrist shot to the top right corner. The goal put Xpertek back up by two and sent the team into shutdown mode.

Leroux also got his nose dirty near the end of the game, mucking it up with a chippy Chiefs forward. After some verbal sparring, the Chiefs attacker took it one step further with a roundhouse right to Leroux’s chin that sent the franchise defenseman sprawling to the ice.

Team mouthpiece Baril had this to say about the rough treatment that Xpertek’s pillar on defence had to endure: “The first rule of getting in someone’s face is to get your face out of their face before they put a fist in your face. I know a little bit about that stuff, so this week in practice we’ll be working on Marty’s ability to avoid another TKO.”

Goaltender Pat Lafontaine, who was solid in net after a one-game absence, was pleased with the victory but pushed his post-game remarks hard in another direction.

“I lost five pounds this summer. Put dat in de paper.”

Xpertek Construction is now tied for first place after three divisional placement games, and should stay seeded in the Molson Export Division for the remainder of the season.


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THREE STARS

1. Tony Lemay -- Scores winning goal, solid on the backcheck all night long
2. Marc Baril -- Two assists, no time in the sin bin for third consecutive game
3. Martin Leroux -- Takes one on the chin but bounces right back up