The Leamington Flyers have now won seven in a row as they prepare for the upcoming OJHL playoffs.
On Family Day they played at Niagara Falls and fell behind twice before rallying to win 5-4.
On Thursday, February 19 in front of the season’s largest crowd of 1,775, the Flyers trailed the visiting Buffalo Sabres 1-0 for 54 minutes before suddenly finding some offense and surged ahead to take a 4-1 victory. Friday night in Burlington they shutout the Cougars 2-0 and on Sunday, February 22 they picked up their seventh straight win 2-1 in overtime versus King Rebellion.
The Family Day game in Niagara was a back-and-forth affair. The Flyers came back from a 3-1 deficit to ice the victory. Landon Pickersgill and Matthew Thomas each scored twice for the Flyers, with Brendan Cooke scoring the other.
On Thursday, a first period defensive miscue at 46 seconds left the Flyers reeling as the Sabres took a precious 1-0 lead. However, with an extremely vocal crowd backing them, one shot vaulted Leamington into a tie before they cashed in on their seventh extra-man attempt, grabbing a 2-1 lead.
With the Buffalo starter lifted for an extra attacker during the last minute of play, the Flyers added two empty-net goals to secure the 4-1 win.
Friday’s win in Burlington was a quiet one, with the Flyers scoring once in the second and adding an empty netter late in the third to take the win. Tre Altiman stopped all 30 shots sent his way for the shutout. Braedan Clark got what proved to be the winner early in the second, and Jak Thiessen added the empty-net marker.
Sunday’s game against the home team King Rebellion was a barn-burner with Altiman halting 32 shots sent his way. Ryan Castle put the Rebellion ahead in the first, but Leamington’s Vincent Gazquez tied it early in the third.
That set the stage for Ethan Walker’s heroics as he scored his 29th of the season just 2:35 into overtime.
The Flyers host the Dukes of Wellington on Thursday, February 26 with puck drop at 7:10 pm. They’ll finish the regular season on the road with games Friday in Milton and Sunday in Buffalo.
