The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Richmond Royals to the J. R. Brisson Complexe on Thurs., Sept. 19, for their 2019-20 hope opener in the CCHL2. The Vikings’ forward, Jason Cossette (18) digs the puck out of the Royals’ goalie, Darien Johnson’s pads. Cossette scored a pair of goals and an assist helping the Vikings to an 8-5 victory.  Moore photo

WESTPORT—The Casselman Vikings played two games this past weekend as they welcomed the Richmond Royals on Thursday night and travelled to Westport on Friday night to take on the Royals.

Rideaus 3 Vikings 2 (OT)

The Casselman Vikings travelled to the Westport Community Arena on Sat., Sept. 20, to take on the Rideaus in the CCHL2. The Vikings took the season opener the night previous with an 8-5 victory over the Richmond Royals and looked to string a couple of wins together. 

The Vikings opened the scoring when Mikael Houle scored his first goal of the season unassisted at 5:07 of the first period. The Rideaus outshot the Vikings 13-10 in the first period but trailed 1-0 heading into the first intermission. 

The Vikings made it 2-0 when Francois scored his third of the season from Jonathan Paquette and Nicolas Chartrand at 13:34 of the second period. The Rideaus got to within one at 15:26 on the power play but the Vikings took a slim 2-1 lead into the second intermission. 

The Rideaus knotted the affair at two at 14:53. Neither team was able to score the game winner before time expired in regulation, so the game headed to a five minute three on three overtime period. The Rideaus ended the game at 2:53 after killing off a penalty taking the game 3-2. 

The Vikings didn’t pick up the victory but notched a single point in the standings. The Rideaus outshot the Vikings 45-34. Suffering the loss in the Vikings’ goal was Nicholas Campbell making 42 saves.

Vikings 8 Royals 5

The Casselman Vikings welcomed the Richmond Royals to the J. R. Brisson Complexe on Thurs., Sept. 19 for their 2019-20 home opener in the CCHL2. The Vikings went 3-1 in the preseason and hoped to bring their winning attitude into the regular season; for the first time in six years they are not the defending champions. 

The Vikings opened the scoring when Francois Drouin scored his first goal of the season from William MacDonald just 2:38 into the first period taking a 1-0 lead. The Vikings made it 2-0 when Frederick Gagnier tipped it home for his first of the season from Antonio Silenu and Mathieu Talbot at 3:49. 

Drouin scored his second of the season and of the period at 5:54 from Maxime Desjardins and Etienne Agues-Pease to give the Vikings a 3-0 lead. The Royals got one back at 14:20 but the Vikings answered eight seconds later as Talbot buried his first of the season from Gagnier and Mikael Houle. The Vikings took a 4-1 lead into the first intermission. 

The Royals battled back scoring three goals at 2:41, 5:26 on the power play and at 10:37 tying the game at four. The Vikings retook the lead when Talbot scored his second of the game and season from Drouin while short handed at 15:51. 

The Vikings took a two-goal lead when Jason Cossette slid home his first of the season from Nicolas Chartrand with just 58 seconds remaining in the middle frame. The Vikings took a 6-4 lead into the second intermission. 

The Royals got to within one at 16:44 of the third period but the Vikings retook a two goal lead at 17:29 as Chartrand lit the lamp for his first of the campaign from Cossette. The Royals pulled their goalie in favour of an extra attacker with under a minute and a half remaining in regulation but the Vikings closed out the scoring when Cossette scored his second of the game and season into the empty net from Adam Paquette and Gagnier with one minute remaining. 

The Vikings took the game 8-5 in their home opener. The Vikings outshot the Royals 42-22. Picking up the win in the Vikings’ goal was Nicholas Campbell making 17 saves.

Up next

The Casselman Vikings welcome the Winchester Hawks to the J. R. Brisson Complexe on Thurs., Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m. and travel to Centre 76 in Athens on Sat., Sept. 28 to take on the Aeros at 7:30 p.m.