A good crowd of 875 fans watched the Leamington Flyers battle the Buffalo Jr. Sabres last Thursday night, October 16, in a contest which had plenty of ups and downs. It could have gone either way, especially in the two overtime periods, but ended in a 4-4 draw.
The Flyers dropped both contests in the two road games they played on the weekend – Saturday to Mississauga and Sunday to the King Rebellion.
On Thursday, the Flyers scored with about five minutes left in the third to force overtime.
Sabres goalie Anthony Alessi stopped 36 of 40 Flyers shots, while Flyers starter Tre Altiman halted 27 of 31. Both netminders made some of their best saves in the four-on-four and three-on-three overtime periods.
The Flyers defense was a bit depleted as Ethan Tatomir was not in the lineup and Sebastian Sanfilippo had been traded earlier to the Niagara Falls Canucks. AP Emmett Mather filled one of the defense roles wearing #3.
The Flyers struck first when Brayden Lappalainen and Landon Pickersgill went on a three-on-one with Ethan Walker, who potted the tic-tac-toe marker. The Sabres tied the game at 14:49 and then went ahead at 2:25 of the second.
The Flyers roared right back a minute later when Erik Muxlow took a sharp angle shot and beat Alessi to make it 2-2. Near the period’s midway juncture, Buffalo’s Tucker Lyndaker was on Altiman’s doorstep and flicked the puck past him to put the Flyers behind again.
The Flyers rattled the Sabres in the opening minute of the third by scoring 49 seconds in. Ashton Darocy plucked an errant pass in the neutral zone and went down the left lane before finding Griffin Grundner open on the right side, who tied the game.
Minutes later, the Sabres scored again to take a 4-3 lead.
Grundner then scored on a powerplay to get back on even terms.
A Flyers’ penalty with 13 seconds left in regulation gave the Sabres a good opportunity to score the winning goal in overtime. However, the Flyers’ defense and outstanding goaltending by Altiman negated the threat.
In the second OT – a five minute three-on-three session – Alessi shone by making several good saves and the game ended in a 4-4 draw.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game,” commented head coach Dale Mitchell post-game. “They (Buffalo) work hard all over the ice and compete in all areas. I think we have a lot to learn from this game. It was nice to get a point from it; however, we need a complete 60-minute game which we are struggling to do at the moment.”
On Saturday at Mississauga, the Flyers and Chargers were knotted at 2-2, before Mississauga scored a powerplay marker to win it midway through the third.
Scoring for Leamington were Griffin Grundner and Brendan Cooke. Gannon Hunter took the loss. The game also marked the return of defenseman Braeden Clark to the lineup.
Sunday at the King Township Rec Centre, the Flyers played their third game in four nights as they faced the King Rebellion. It was a close game for 40 minutes, but Flyers’ goalie Tre Altiman suffered the loss as the Rebellion grabbed a 3-2 second-period lead then expanded it in the third, while the Flyers’ guns were silent in the second half. Grundner and Brayden Degelas notched the Flyers goals.
The Flyers will host the Trenton Golden Hawks this Thursday, October 23 at 7:10 pm.
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