The Gillespie's Tree Service U15 Red Devils continued their march to the Red Hats this week with 3 playoff games.
Wednesday saw the Greater Kingston Junior Gaels come to the RCAF Arena for the QRD squad's first hosting duties in these playoffs. The tight checking affair saw no scoring until the 3rd period when Andrew Laurin took an outlet pass from Jack Beebe almost the length of the ice and opened the scoring with what would eventually stand as the game winner. Coen Lowry added an insurance marker late in the 3rd batting home the rebound off a Lauchlan Whelan effort. The squad handed Kinston their first loss of the playoffs and gained a valuable 2 points.
A short turnaround saw the team head up the 401 to Whitby on Thursday for the first playoff meeting with the Wildcats. A tentative first period by both teams saw a scoreless tie after 1 period of play. Whitby would open the scoring early in the second period before an offensive explosion for Quinte late in the frame. Andrew Laurin got things rolling taking a breakout pass from Brechyn Aird most of the length of the ice to open the scoring for the Red Devils. The very next shift saw Lawson Minifie bang home a Lauchlan Whelan rebound and Aird fire home a seeing eye shot with helpers from Jax Martin and Minifie for a 3-1 QRD lead to close out the 2nd frame. A power play opportunity saw Lauchlan Whelan take a Spencer Harold pass through the Wildcats squad to put Quinte up 4-1. Whitby would get one back before Ewan Dahle would bury a Minifie feed for a 5-2 QRD win and another valuable 2 points in the playoffs.
The squad closed the week out with yet another road trip, this time to visit the Markham Waxers. Coen Lowry would open the scoring early in the first tipping home an Andrew Laurin point shot on the power play for a 1-0 Red Devils lead. Markham would hit the scoresheet twice before the end of the period to take a 2-1 lead to the break. Spencer Harold held up the Markham attack at his own blue line and hit Jax Martin after the turnover. John Kover would bang home the rebound off the Martin shot to draw QRD even at 2-2. Late second period pressure saw Trent Clow knock home a Laurin rebound to put the Red Devils up 3-2 heading into the flood. The Waxers would tie the game midway through the 3rd before Austin Preston buried a Markham turnover to put QRD in front for good. Noah Kennedy added an insurance marker late in the 3rd on the powerplay after some great work down low by Clow and Martin. Nathan Ferriss was outstanding in net denying Markham several great opportunities throughout the game. That win made it 4 in a row for the Red Devils and moved them to the top of the table in a very competitive playoff pool.
This week sees a pair of home games as the squad closes out their playoff series with the Central Ontario Wolves and Whitby. The Wolves come to town on Wednesday night for an 8pm puck drop and Whitby will make the trek down on Sunday afternoon for a 3pm start on Sponsor Appreciation Day. Both games are slated to be at the RCAF Arena.