Dan Falloon
The Salvation Army must be wishing teddy bears were tossed for every Muskie goal here Friday night.
The black-and-gold improved to 6-0 in NorWOSSA play by beating Kenora goalie Brett Arseneault early and often in a 9-2 drubbing of the Broncos (3-2).
Jeff Davis tapped in a tasty set-up from David Chambers 9:34 into the first period to send teddy bears flying onto the ice from the stands in conjunction with the team’s annual “Teddy Bear Toss” promotion.
Fort High the kept the pressure on high, tallying again just two minutes later.
The play started and ended with Donovan Cousineau, who scampered to the right wing to help double-team the Bronco defender and keep the puck in the zone.
Seconds later, Cousineau was on the left wing, scoring a close-range goal past Arseneault.
The Muskies increased the lead to 3-0 before the period was done when Davis scooped a rebound to the twine at 13:51.
The hosts nearly put up another goal as Matt DePiero made the Bronco defence resemble pylons before roofing a backhand that beat Arseneault but not the crossbar.
Fort High outshot Kenora 19-3 in the first period.
In the second, Davis snapped home his third of the game 2:51 in.
Cousineau then added his second of the night at 11:56 before Curtis Zilinski got Kenora on the board when he beat Devin Stromness on a breakaway at 14:10.
The Muskies regained their five-goal cushion before the period was out, however, as captain Jamie Kaun teed one past Arseneault while on the power play to make it 6-1.
Fort High would keep its three-goals-a-period pattern going in the third, but only after Bronco forward Jordan Meyers tallied 21 seconds in.
From there, Muskie defenceman Tyson McLean got in on the action, slapping one home with Davis Smith providing an admirable screen at 4:55.
Just 1:27 later, DePiero would get his goal, stuffing home Jeff Cridland’s rebound to inflate the score to 8-2.
Smith rounded out the scoring at the eight-minute mark when he powered past the Bronco defence to the front of the net and roofed a shot.
There was a scary moment at 10:23 of the period as Jacob Witherspoon was hit from behind by Dustin Boucha and stayed on the ice for about a minute, eventually leaving on his own power.
Boucha was ejected for the hit.
Witherspoon sustained a neck strain, but Muskie coach Shawn Jourdain said he’s expected to be in the lineup for tomorrow night’s rematch against the Broncos in Kenora.
Stromness stopped 15 of 17 Kenora shots for the win while a busier Arseneault made 36 saves in the loss.
