Maroons skate past Vipers

The matchup between the LaSalle Vipers and Chatham Maroons was fairly even through two periods. LaSalle would score first on a goal by Alec Stewart in the opening frame but that would be their only marker of the night as the Chatham Maroons skated away with a 6-1 win.

Maroons celebrate third period goal in LaSalle

"Just fighting it right now," said Vipers captain Owen Findlay. "Got get back to basics and kinda reset and refocus and come back Sunday and hopefully get one against Listowel. With (forward Max) Broklehurst out, it's a big loss but everyone's gotta step up and embrace the role of being next guy up and work hard."

Brody Gillis scored in the first while Connor Hunt notched a powerplay goal as the Maroons held a slim 2-1 lead heading into the third. The tide would shift in their favour in the final frame. Things got rolling when Hunt attempted to get the puck over to Liam Campbell on a 2-on-1 but it deflected off LaSalle defenceman Noah Caswell who was sliding to cut off the pass and got past goaltender Jake Windbiel at 7:56.

Under three minutes last Carter Chadwick found himself on a breakaway. Check out the video to see what happened before he scored.

"December was a huge month for us," Chadwick explained. "I think it just put a big confidence boost in our whole entire squad in the room and we're just playing with confidence. We're following the coaches' game plan every night and coming out with the wins. It was a tough one against St. Mary's (6-2 loss last Sunday) but it was good to bounce back tonight."

Liam Campbell and Ian Lachance scored with the extra man to close out the scoring as Chatham moved into 2nd place in the Western Conference with 46 points. Listowel beat London 3-2 to leap into a three-way tie for third with the Nationals and Stratford at 45 points. LaSalle drops to 6th. "It's so close now," Hunt told Powerplay Sports. "Every game matters so it just makes it that more fun to get out there. You gotta get every point you can."

Chatham hosts St. Thomas Sunday while the Vipers face the Cyclones Sunday on the road.