The Casselman Vikings grabbed home ice advantage from the Perth Blue Wings in Monday’s 2-1 OT victory at the Perth Arena.
Nicholas Lankester scored the game winner in the extra frame on the man advantage, Mael Gendron made 33 saves, and the Vikings take a 1-0 series lead headed back to Casselman.
Sebastien Ouimet opened the scoring at 4:53 in the first period, rifling a wrister past the glove of Brady McEwan on the powerplay. McEwan made 31 saves in the loss.
Blake Armitage tied things up for Perth in the middle frame, batting the puck out of mid-air for his first of the postseason.
Both the Vikings and Blue Wings exchanged chances in the third but couldn’t find the net. Perth’s best opportunity came in the dying seconds of the third, when league MVP Lleyton McLean created a breakaway after splitting the Vikings defence, but Gendron made the stop on both McLean and Keagan Johnston, who couldn’t put in the rebound.
Vikings fans came out in droves on a fan bus and made their presence known throughout the came, banging on war drums and cheering their team on.
Well, that was the craziest atmosphere I’ve ever witnessed at a junior hockey game. Select Vikings fans tried to scale the glass after the OT winner. Forget the powerhouse teams on the ice. The battle of these fanbases is just as entertaining. My goodness.
— Grant (@grantdeme) April 4, 2023
This was just Perth’s second loss at home all year. They finished the regular season with a 20-1 home record, and were a perfect 5-0 in the postseason up until Monday.
Game 2 goes Thursday in Casselman at 8 p.m.
Story by Grant Deme
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