It was a very busy week for the Leamington Flyers as they played three games in the span of four days, winning all three of them.
On Tuesday February 10 they hammered the North York Rangers 9-1 then had two home contests on consecutive nights.
Last Thursday, they topped the Oakville Blades 7-2 then on Friday hosted the first-place Toronto Patriots and escaped with a precious 3-2 victory that sent a clear message: the Flyers will be one tough team to beat come playoffs.
“I am extremely happy with our group at the moment,” said head coach Dale Mitchell. “We are doing plenty of great things before playoffs. This league is deep and no matchup even in round one will be easy. We need to keep our habits and details from this month going into March and April.”
Tuesday night versus North York, the Flyers offense was in high gear. They jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead then upped it to 5-0 after 40 minutes.
Landon Pickersgill — who opened the game’s scoring — finished his night with two third period tallies to acquire a hattrick. Teammates Brendan Cooke and Vincent Gazquez ripped pairs, while Adrian Bosev and Jak Thiessen cranked out one goal apiece.
Flyers starting goalie Gannon Hunter halted 25 shots to pick up the win. Rangers’ goalies Sean Dunn and Reid Thomas combined to stop 43 of the 52 shots they faced.
On Thursday night at home, the Flyers’ offensive parade continued in much the same manner as they took a 3-1 lead and transformed it to a 5-1 count after two periods. Leamington doubled Oakville in shots 52-26. Starter Tre Altiman stopped 24 of 26 that came his way.
During the opening period the Flyers’ puck control was apparent. Pickersgill’s pass to Brendan Cooke was hammered on net but Blades’ starter Marcus Cruz D’Annunzio kicked out a rebound which Brayden Degelas pounced upon and drilled past him from the slot. Matthew Thomas and Ethan Walker set up Landon Bernard’s powerplay screen shot three minutes later. After a Flyers’ goal had been negated late in the period, Brayden Lappalainen cannoned a left lane shot which handcuffed Cruz-D’Annuzio. The sole sore point for the club was allowing Oakville’s Christian Armstrong a last second shot which skipped past Altiman.
The Blades fought harder in the second stanza but it was the Flyers who tallied the goals. At 2:14, Erik Muxlow, Spencer Vandenberg and Brayden Degelas created a two-on-one play that ended with Muxlow firing the puck towards the net where Vandenberg slipped past Cruz-D’Annuzio. Late in the frame, Gasquez and Jak Thiessen combined passes to Matthew Thomas, who unleashed a screen shot from the right point and watched the puck elude everybody and sail into the net.
The third period was the most evenly matched one of the night and included a bit of everything from brilliant saves to bone-crunching hits plus a couple of powerplays for each side.
Tatomir sent Lappalainen down the left lane for the Flyers’ sixth goal, and then Bernard and Degelas laid the groundwork for Ethan Walker’s right side screen shot to complete the scoring. Oakville tabbed one more goal which came on a late powerplay goal.
Friday night’s extremely noisy crowd of 580 created a playoff atmosphere and the Flyers responded at 3:43 of the opening frame when Brendan Cooke gave Brayden Degelas a shot on net. However, the rebound bounced out to Landon Pickersgill whose left side blast found the target.
Less than one minute into the second stanza, Landon Bernard and Spencer Vandenberg worked the puck to Vincent Gazquez who was anchored in the top of the slot. Gazquez slammed a shot that eluded a sea of bodies in front of him for a 2-0 lead.
Alex Hebblethwaite reaped the Patriots’ first goal by redirecting a pass into the open left side and six minutes later a giveaway led to a goal by Tommy Karmiris to knot the contest.
The eventual game- winning marker came at 18:41 of the second from Landon Bernard’s stick after he took the passwork of Evan Hjelholt and Lappalainen.
The Patriots applied constant pressure in the final minutes when they had a powerplay and lifted their goalie for an extra-attacker.
Flyers’ goalie Tre Altiman stood his ground throughout the period and in the final minute made a miraculous save as a crowd swelled around him jabbing at a loose puck before freezing it and forcing a faceoff.
Altiman finished the period with 16 saves and stopped 33 of 35 overall to get the win. The Patriots’ Caracciolo halted 28 of 31.
The Flyers will hold Fan Appreciation Day this Thursday, February 19 versus the Buffalo Jr. Sabres at 7:30 pm with free admission.
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