With 908 fans present for a rare Friday night home game on March 7, the atmosphere inside Highbury Canco Arena was electric with anticipation.
The noise level in the arena helped propel the Leamington Flyers win 4-1 over the visiting Niagara Falls Canucks in the opening game of their first-round series. Then on Sunday the Flyers took a 2-0 series lead with a 4-2 win at Niagara Falls.
The Flyers’ entire game revolved around strong defensive work and some timely scoring despite plenty of missed chances in the first.
Head coach Dale Mitchell said, “I was really happy with our effort and attention to our game plan. We had lots of opportunities (to score) and we put lots of pucks on their net.”
“We have to go and win a big game two on the road (Sunday) and remain disciplined,” Mitchell added.
Niagara Falls starting goalie Mikael Kingo faced 25 Flyers’ shots in the opening period, two of them being goals which gave Leamington a 2-1 lead.
The Flyers opened the scoring at 2:44 when Tyler McGuire’s long shot was kicked out by Kingo but Cade Bell was in the slot to transform the rebound into a tally. Griffin Grundner initiated the play. But uncharacteristically, the Flyers surrendered their lone goal to the Canucks 11 seconds later when Parker Forlin’s left lane shot skipped past Flyers’ starter Marcus Vandenberg.
After applying a series of almost non-stop shots, the Flyers’ Brody Cook took the handiwork of Colton Smith and Ethan Tatomir, then unleashed a left side screen shot which eluded Kingo for a 2-1 edge.
The game’s intensity increased in the second as the Canucks tested Leamington a bit more. On a three-on-one break at 6:15 of the second, Michael Denney sent Marquis Brown down the right lane, who passed to Brayden Degelas, who drilled the Flyers’ third goal.
At 8:12 on an abbreviated powerplay, Denney and Landon Bernard laid the groundwork for Colton Smith’s left lane screen shot, which handcuffed Kingo and vaulted Leamington into a 4-1 lead.
The third period was rather tame as both teams jockeyed to gain the next goal but neither side tabbed one. Vandenberg faced only 19 Canucks’ shots.
Sunday in Niagara Falls the tempo was fast and featured plenty of shots by both sides. But the second period provided the Flyers with the goals they needed for a 4-2 win.
After the Canucks had scored first a few minutes into the contest, Leamington’s Tyler McGuire knotted it. A key turning point was the Flyers challenging a Canucks’ powerplay goal at 9:08 of the second. After a lengthy review, the goal was negated.
Colton Smith and Brayden Degelas both scored later to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead. Michael Denney notched a third-period goal, and a last-second Niagara Falls faceoff shot bested goalie Marcus Vandenberg to finish the scoring.
Shots were fairly even with Niagara Falls outshooting Leamington 41-40.
The series resumes Thursday, March 13 in Leamington at 7:10 pm. Game four is Friday, March 14 at Niagara Falls. If necessary, game five is set for Sunday, March 16 in Leamington at 5:10. Games six and seven, if needed, would be played Tuesday, March 18 in Niagara and Thursday, March 20 in Leamington.
