The first full weekend of hockey is in the books and it wasn’t without at least one surprise.
The expansion Erin Outlaws not only provided the first overtime in OEHL history in their first ever game, but they also notched their first win, taking a 5-4 shootout victory on home ice over last season’s finalist, the Ripley Wolves.
Jacob Tugnutt made 33 saves during regular play, then stopped all three Ripley shooters in the shootout to record the win.
The defending champions Tavistock Royals took their first loss of the season on Friday night, dropping a 7-4 decision to the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks in a game that went back & forth until Saugeen Shores pulled away in the third period.
The Royals bounced back the following night, with a 5-1 win over the Lucknow Lancers to bring Tavistock to 2-1-0 on the season.
The Georgian Bay Applekings played their first home game in front of 600 fans in Thornbury, but were greeted by the visiting Creemore Coyotes with an 8-2 defeat.
Three different Coyotes players recorded three points each in the Creemore win.
In Palmerston, the Minto 81’s dropped their season opener on home ice, downed 5-2 by the Seaforth Centenaires.
Jamie Huber recorded a goal and two assists for Seaforth in the win.
The Milverton 4 Wheel Drives opened their home schedule on Sunday afternoon, but a bounce-back performance by Ripley saw the Wolves take a 5-1 win.
Garrett Meurs recorded four points (1G, 3A) for the Wolves to take an early share of the lead in the OEHL scoring race with Saugeen Shores’ Miles MacLean, each with four points.
Full boxscores are available in the Scores section of OEHLhockey.ca
Six more games are scheduled to go this weekend, October 20-21.
In the only action scheduled on Friday night, the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks put their 2-0-0 record on the line at home against Erin, who are also looking to stay perfect.
Saturday is much busier, with five games scheduled.
It will be a short turnaround for Saugeen Shores, who travel to Milverton for an early evening start on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Erin will also have a busy weekend, heading home on Saturday to host Seaforth at 7:30 p.m.
Georgian Bay and Minto will each be looking to get on the winning side of the ledger in Palmerston at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday evening.
The Durham Thundercats get into the action, kicking off their 2023-24 season at home against Ripley at 7:30 p.m.
Tavistock continues their early season road trips with a visit to Creemore for the Coyotes home opener at 7:30 p.m.
Check out the schedule section for full details.
Please note – a Sunday afternoon game between Creemore and Lucknow Lancers has been rescheduled to Sunday, November 5th at 4:30 p.m. in Lucknow.
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