Valley Maple Leafs, Liverpool Privateers duke it out for third, fourth place in NSJHL standings

If the Valley Maple Leafs miss out on finishing third place in the Fred Fox Division, the team can look back at the five games with the Sackville Blazers this season to see where some valuable points were lost.

The Blazers fought for a playoff berth all season long but despite coming close on a few occasions, could never seem to get out of fifth place in the Fred Fox Division.

That didn't keep them from being prepared for every single game.

On Feb. 2, in the fifth and final game between the clubs this season, the Blazers defeated the Maple Leafs 5-3 in regulation time — meaning the Leafs were unable to garner that valuable point or two.

One point would have tied the Leafs with Liverpool for third place, and a win would have enabled Valley to pass the Privateers and take over third place by a point.

On Feb. 2, the Blazers and Leafs were tied 1-1 after the opening period. Luke Russell scored during that period for the Leafs.

Sackville scored three times in the second, with the Valley squad scoring once thanks to Stuart Kennie.

In the third, Nathan Clarke brought the Leafs back to within a single goal before Kyle Carter’s third goal of the night, into an empty net, sealed the deal for the Blazers.

The Leafs finished the season outscoring the Blazers 22-18 in the five games and had a record of 3-1-1-0, while Sackville had a mark of 2-2-1-0.

On Feb. 6, the Leafs played the Cole Harbour Colts and lost 4-3 in a shootout.

The final two regular season games for the Leafs are set for Feb. 9 in Windsor against the Colts and Feb. 10 in Liverpool.

The East Hants Penguins are in first place, having won 25 of the 33 games played. The Penguins lost six games in regulation and two in a shootout.