Bruins beat LumberJacks, heading to division finals
Roger Varley
The Uxbridge Bruins appear to be unstoppable after cruising through the first two rounds of the PJHL's Orr Division playoffs. With a 3-1 victory over the Port Perry LumberJacks at the arena last Friday, the Bruins now wait to find out who they will play in the finals.
Their path to victory suffered a minor setback last Tuesday when the visiting LumberJacks defeated them 2-1 in overtime. It was the first loss for the Bruins since Feb. 16, when the Georgina Ice beat them in the last game of the regular season.
Tyson Lotton scored for the Bruins midway through Tuesday's first period, but a Port Perry power-play early in the third sent the game into overtime, which lasted just a couple of minutes before the LumberJacks scored.
The following night, down the other end of Reach Street, was a little bit weird. The two teams scored three goals between them within the space of 47 seconds late in the first period, with Uxbridge taking the edge.
There were three goals in the second period as well, with all three goals coming on power plays. Once again, the Bruins took the edge. Uxbridge scored two more in the third for a 6-2 win. Danny Thomakos and Jordan Fitger both scored two goals and Tanner Ryan picked up three assists.
Finally, at the arena on Friday, with almost 600 fans packed into the stands, the Bruins allowed Port Perry to take the lead in the second period and then responded with three in the third to win the series 4-1.
With nine playoff games under their belts, Lotton and Ryan Shier lead the Bruins with seven goals and 10 assists each, while Fitger has 10 goals and five assists. Between the pipes, Kevin Halloran won two games while allowing only one goal. Robbie DiMaria was in the net for the only Bruins loss, but has a staggering goalie average of 1.14, having stopped a total of 186 shots while allowing only eight goals.
The Bruins now have plenty of time to prepare for the finals. The other semi-final between the Ice and the Clarington Eagles is tied at three games apiece, but the deciding game is not scheduled until tonight (Thursday) in Georgina. That means the final series won't start until sometime next week.
The Georgina-Clarington series has been somewhat of an oddity. Each team has won three games so far, but all the wins have come on the opponent's ice.