By Jim Stewart

After a 4-1 home ice loss to Milton on Thursday and a last-minute 3-2 loss in Burlington on Friday, the ninth-place Admirals arrived at the Zancor Centre on Sunday afternoon in desperate need of a win.

Paced by Nolan Keeler's four-point performance, Caledon defeated King 5-2 to climb back into eighth place in the highly-competitive OJHL West. With the loss, the Rebellion (19-12-1-0) fell into seventh place—eight points ahead of the Admirals.

Keeler kicked off the festivities in King Township by firing his 16th of the season past Rebellion goaltender Noah Maven to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at 6:03 of the first period. The productive left winger described the opening tally: “It was a good goal. Our line forechecked hard. Owsicki made a nice move to get it over the blue line and Fang saucered me a pass. Maven got a piece of it, but I was happy to see it go in.”

The Keeler-Fang-Owsicki line clicked two more times in the second period to give the maroon-clad Admirals a three-goal lead. Keeler set up Owsicki 1:42 into the middle frame to make it 2-0 and all three linemates earned points nine minutes later when Fang fired a snapshot from between the circles that Maven blocked partially.

However, the puck flipped through Maven and into the back of the cage.

Keeler described the chemistry and productivity of his line: “It's really good.  We had a 14-game point streak.  We're different kinds of players so our line is constructed well. We have a complementary set of skills that other teams have a tough time covering. Fang's goal was a nice effort by our line.”

The Admirals went up 4-0 on a fine individual play by speedy Cam Lang.  Playing 4 on 4, Lang found space, cut to the net off left wing, Maven stopped Lang's first shot in the slot, but the cagy veteran tapped in his own rebound.

The Admirals' fourth goal on 29 shots chased Maven—the fifth-ranked goaltender in the OJHL—and Logan Kennedy took his place between the pipes.

Keeler commented on the significance of Maven's departure from the contest 12:24 of the second period: “It was important for us for sure.  Maven's a great goalie, but we were shooting really well today, too.” 

The Admirals held their 4-0 lead until Rebellion defender Matthew Anderson stole an errant pass, made a spirited rush off the left wing, deked Caledon netminder James Meredith to the right, and slid the puck past the spread-eagled goalie to get King on the scoreboard at 3:33 of the third period.

Midway through the final frame, Owsicki fired a shot off the pipe and Cole Kirton one-timed the rebound past Kennedy to restore the visitors' four-goal lead.

Keeler earned his 21st assist of the season and fourth point of the game on Kirton's insurance goal.

Another King defender scored with six minutes to play to pull the Rebellion to within three when high-scoring Ryan Fairbairn rifled a wrist shot that beat Meredith clearly and bulged the twine.

The Caledon goaltender steadied The Fleet the rest of the way and stymied King shooters to earn the W.

Keeler praised his goaltender's performance: “James is a good goalie and so solid down low. Our D played well today and cleared the rebounds.  James was seeing it really well and helped get a big road win to keep us in playoff contention. We've played well against King this year. We've taken two games in their barn.  It sets us up well for a big game with Mississauga on Thursday.”

Another four-point performance earlier in the week also helped Caledon's playoff hopes. Clarence Allain's four-point night, based on a second period goal and three assists in the third period, ignited the Admirals' offense in a 6-4 win over the upstart Markham Royals last Sunday.

The Admirals overcame a 2-0 lead against the Royals. After Kayden Brand opened the scoring in the first period, the Markham forward added another just seconds into the second to stake the Royals to an early two-goal lead, Jonah Henderson cued the Caledon comeback.

At 7:08 of the middle frame, the sturdy defender beat Royals' netminder Noah Caballero with his third of the season to narrow his team's deficit to one.

Five minutes later, Allain tied it 2-2.

Keeler followed with his fifteenth of the season to give the home side its first lead of the game with 3:44 on the clock. Although Athen Miwa's power play goal pulled Markham into a 3-3 tie only 27 seconds into the third, the Fleet righted the ship and blazed its cannons with a power play goal of its own to restore its lead.

Xavvier Rowe—set up by prolific playmakers Lang and Allain—made it 4-3 for Caledon six minutes into the final frame. Kirton gave the Admirals a two-goal cushion two minutes later—with helpers earned by Deacon King and Allain. 

Zach Gardner's short-handed goal pulled the Royals to within one at 5-4 to create some suspense with 6:46 left in the game, but 44 seconds later, the Admirals removed much of that intrigue when Kirton provided his club with its two-goal margin of victory.

Allain earned his third assist of the period and 23rd of the season on Kirton's power play marker. Curtis Freeman's team-leading 24th assist helped set up the Admirals' sixth goal. 

Calem Yorke earned the home ice win by making 30 saves. Yorke stopped Philip Goverdis's penalty shot at 17:56 of the first period to limit the visitors to a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes to help set up Caledon's three-goal rally in the middle frame.

The Admirals (14-14-1-2) will look to strengthen their hold on eighth place in the OJHL West when they host the ninth-place Mississauga Chargers on Thursday night.  Puck drop at the Mayfield Recreation Complex is 7:30 p.m.