Captain Braedyn Aubin and the Markham Royals are on top of the hotly-contest North Division of the OJHL. Two points separates first and third place. (Photo by Andy Corneau / OJHL Images)

BY RON VALENTINE

The Oakville Blades are sitting pretty atop the West Division of the Ontario.

It’s another world in the OJHL North, where two points separate the top three teams: the Newmarket Hurricanes, Aurora Tigers and Markham Royals have all played 46 games.

A perfect 2-for-2 this week and five straights for those Hurricanes. The Blades and the Burlington Cougars both went 2 for 3 in the West while the Georgetown Raiders and Brampton Admirals got four points from three games.

WEDNESDAY - The MARKHAM ROYALS took it on the chin at home in an afternoon game to the East's TORONTO GOLDEN HAWKS, going down by a 7-1 count which put the visitors, perhaps briefly, into second place in their division. Ben Allard-Robitaille made 37 saves in the win while Cameron Gaylor had two goals and three points. His first, in the dying seconds of the first period, gave Trenton a 3-1 advantage. Proving to be a good trade deadline pickup from Brantford, Ted Davis got his third goal in four appearances. Steven Elliott had a goal and two assists and now in his three games back since his injury he has put up seven points.

Two large points and their fourth win in a row for the NEWMARKET HURRICANES in winning their school-day matinee 4-2 versus the AURORA TIGERS. With the win, they move to just a singleton behind the first-place Royals in the North, leap-frogging over Aurora in the process. Claudio DeGasperis, notched two goals, his 13th and 14th of the season. It was 3-0 after two periods but the Hurricanes could not quite make it four shutouts in a row. Claudio noted: “It was a great win against our close rivals and the guys played really well today. As a team, we are trying to build momentum going into the playoffs and it's looking good so far with four wins in a row.”

It took a second session overtime goal by veteran forward Jordan Crocker, his 13th of the season, for the GEORGETOWN RAIDERS to beat the BRAMPTON ADMIRALS 2-1 at the Alcott arena and move into a fourth-place tie with Burlington in the West, three behind the third place Admirals. Former Powassan VooDoo Aaron Dickson gave the visitors the first period lead. Bailey Molella got that back quickly in the second before Raider goalie Carson Poulin (44 saves overall) and Admirals' Travis Smith shut the door for the rest of regulation time. Georgetown has now allowed one goal in each of its last six contests.

THURSDAY - Two shorthanded goals, from Brendan Rylott and Matthew Hobbs, for the BURLINGTON COUGARS as they beat the BRANTFORD 99ERS 6-2 at the Gretzky. Andrew Salt had two goals including an empty-netter and Rylott had two also. Trevor LeDonne got Brantford on the board within the first minute of the game. Jared Froese got a powerplay goal early in the second frame. It was the former Grimsby Peach Kings' first OJHL marker. Daniel Davidson was strong in the Cougars' cage, saving 42 99ers' shots for his second win in as many starts.

A powerplay goal by Brock Hill gave the Tigers a much-needed 4-2 victory over Stouffville which put them into a second-place tie with the Hurricanes, one points adrift of the Royals in the hotly-contested North. Joseph Mizzi had one assist to move his league-leading points total to 64. They got off to a very fast start, with a goal 25 seconds in from Mauro Biasutto. Jacob Ball had two helpers for the winners.

FRIDAY - Daniel Davidson got his first clean sheet in his third game as a Cougar as they put in a strong, workmanlike performance to top the NORTH YORK RANGERS 1-0. At the other end Jett Alexander was no slouch saving 33 Cougars' shots. It was scoreless after two then in the third Mike Greco found Jeffrey Burridge in full flight at the Rangers' blueline and Matthew Hobbs got the goal following up on the play. It was the 50th. point of the season for Burlington who jumped into third in the West as a result.

Another shutout performance this time in Markham as the PICKERING PANTHERS stunned the Royals 4-0 led by a two goal, one assist effort from Andrew Poulias and a 35-save performance from Tanner Sheppard. Both Sheppard and Markham goalie Andrew Albano played for the Dundas Jr. C. Blues. Two helpers each to Adam Wheaton and Ethan Cardwell. The Royals stay stuck on the 50-point mark, one ahead of Newmarket and Aurora.

The Blades did what was expected beating the 99ers at home by a 4-1 count. The Brantford offense continues to splutter, they have come up with just four goals in their last five games. Kyle Potts had two goals, one on the powerplay. It was 3-0 Oakville after two periods. Win number nineteen on home ice and now a League-leading 78 points for the Blades, three more than the Rangers. Garrett Pyke got his 50th. point to lead all blueliners. Six straight setbacks for the struggling 99ers, who are all but mathematically eliminated from postseason play.

SATURDAY - For the first time this season the Blades managed to beat Burlington. Josh Nixon scored twice in the 5-3 final in the CHCH OJHL TV Game of the Week matinee at Sixteen Mile. Josh's pair gives him 20 goals for the season, eight of them with the Blades, the other dozen with Georgetown. The second period was very big for the Blades as they outscored the Cougars 3-1 and outshot them 19-4. Spencer Kersten sealed the visitor's fate with an empty-net goal. Cougars' forward Michael Boushy, who has 31 points in 31 games this season, summed it up: “We came out strong, I think we ran out of gas though, it was a tough game (the win against North York) the night before,” Head Coach Mark Jooris: “I'm very proud of my team, the game could have gone either way. We were just not good enough in the second period.” The Blades assistant captain Jack Ricketts said: “It was a cool experience with the TV timeouts but it did seem to slow the game down quite a bit. It definitely felt good to come out on top and make a statement in a potential first round matchup.”

The Spirit got off to a very quick start against the Hurricanes with goals by Charlie Da Fonseca and Jordan Giacomin before the game was two minutes old. Before the end of the period Newmarket, scored three times and that would be the total for the night with the Hurricanes taking the decision 3-2. Claudio DeGasperis, with his 15th, had the winning tally. The Hurricanes claimed, at least temporarily, and for the first time this season, top spot in the North.

At the Alcott, the Raiders took a tight one, 2-1 over the BUFFALO JUNIOR SABRES. The clubs exchanged early goals with Andrew Horsley scoring for Georgetown and fellow rookie Declan McDonnell replying quickly for the Juniors. Jake Payette's powerplay marker just past five minutes into the second period was the decider. Carson Poulin won his 14th. but was not overly busy in saving 22 shots, the same number turned back at the other end by Jeremy Forman. The Raiders now have third place on winning percentage .001 over Burlington.

A rematch from Friday, this time in Pickering saw the Royals edge the Panthers 2-1. Goal No. 27 for Alessio Luciani in the first period. The same two 'keepers – Andrew Albano for the Royals and Tanner Sheppard for the Panthers ­– got net duty again but this time the win went to the Royals goalkeeper. The second period was scoreless and in the third Nick Giunta put Markham ahead 2-0 at the 20-second mark before Ben Sellars got one for the Panthers just after the six-minute mark. Back to the top of the North for Markham after Newmarket had claimed that honour for an hour or so.

Joey Maziarz came through for North York as they beat Brampton 5-4 in extra time in the inter-Conference affair. The home side down 4-1 just after the middle of the second period got goals from David Mastropaolo (his second of the game), Daniel Berno and 

Masson Sarris to get on even terms. Harrison Rees had three helpers for the overtime winners. Brandon Yeamans notched his 28th. on the season, his eighth as a Ranger. The third straight overtime game for the Admirals. Joey: “They played us hard all game. When OT came around we just wanted pucks on the net with traffic and as soon as we had some bodies in front I just got a puck through and it found its way in.” The goal was his 50th point of the season. With his goal and assist, Jonathan Hampton also reached the 50-point mark between the Raiders and the Rangers. “A big point for us,” noted Admirals' leading scorer Rocco Andreacchi, “but also a tough loss, our second straight in overtime. Tomorrow a really big one for us against Georgetown."

SUNDAY - Another pivotal game in the West saw the Admirals hosting the Raiders, who finally saw their sturdy defense breached with Brampton taking the 4-2 victory. The Admirals jumped over Burlington in the fluid race for the bronze medal in the West while Georgetown remains in fifth, two points behind the Cougars. Sarnia native Maxwell Steeves had the game winner, his sixth goal of the season. Georgetown outshot the home side 17-4 in the third but had only one goal, by Jake Payette, to show for it. Twelve different Admirals got a point on their four goals.

Follow Ron Valentine on Twitter @ronandlynda