The Napanee Raiders’ new top line continued its torrid pace Friday to deliver a 5-2 win on home ice over the Port Hope Panthers.
In their third game since coach Ben Hagerman put them together, Michael Patrick, Ben White and Andrew Carr combined for 12 points in the win, extending their veterans’ total contributions to 30 points in three games together since White returned to the lineup after battling an injury.
On Friday, Patrick had the hot hand. After scoring first three minutes into the game, he notched goals in all three frames to record his second hand trick in the last three contests. He also drew an assist on Carr’s first-period goal. White turned in an impressive night, assisting on each Raider goal scored — those four, plus a late Erik MacNiel empty net tally from beyond his own goal line.
Napanee also got a big effort from Logan Vale in goal as he stopped 28 of 30 Panther shots. Jacob Bone and Dailen Fousek tallied for the visitors.
The game marked Christos Chronis’ return to the lineup as an overager. He joined the Raiders Thursday.
With the win, the Raiders pulled briefly into a second-place tie in a tight top half of the Tod Division standings. Picton would pull two points ahead of the Raiders and Amherstview Jets with a win over Lakefield Saturday, but Napanee has two games in hand on both and four games in hand on first-place Frankford. The Huskies were eight points ahead of the Raiders, who would be in Trent Hills Sunday.