For 55 minutes the Flyers clung to a slim lead over the Buffalo Junior Sabres before sealing a 5-1 victory with two empty-net goals in front of 540 fans here last Thursday. Buffalo showed the Flyers that despite their bottom of the West status they can still be a tough team to beat.
On Friday the Flyers made the long trip to Collingwood where their offense was stopped cold as the Blues beat them 3-0.
Last Thursday, Leamington led 1-0 and then 3-1 after 40 minutes. During the course of the game, several Flyers, including defenseman Bruce Belleau and Tyler McGuire, were among a few players who were beset with on-ice injuries. McGuire returned to action later. Belleau did not, but played in Collingwood on Friday.
The game’s intensity led to several scuffles during its final minutes and led refs Drew Ramsden and Brandon Shaw to dish out several 10 minute misconducts in the final seconds.
Unlike previous games, the Flyers appeared sluggish in the first frame and allowed the Jr. Sabres to outshoot them 9-7.
The game’s first penalty infraction, which went to Buffalo, resulted in a Flyers’ powerplay marker as Erik Muxlow and Ashton Darocy hooked passes to Griffin Grundner, who deftly lifted the puck high over Buffalo goalie Logan Vitek at 11:21.
They took that slim 1-0 lead into the middle stanza and rattled the Sabres with two goals in the opening minutes of the period. Reid Ashton laid the groundwork. Evan Hjelholt’s shot, which bounded onto Jak Thiessen’s stick, was converted to make it 2-0. At 4:48, Muxlow found Ashton Darocy whose scoring attempt was halted, but like the previous goal resulted in a rebound which Griffin Grundner flicked into the net from the slot. Flyers’ defenseman Bryce Belleau went down at 9:09 and teammate Tyler McGuire was hurt at 11:04. In between those two injuries, Buffalo’s Jake Brown spoiled Colten Drillen-Roach’s shutout bid.
Much of the third period was spent by the two teams gaining puck control and very few shots were placed on either goaltender. Leamington mustered four on Vitez, while the Sabres put 7 on Drillen-Roach.
The Sabres pulled Vitez for an extra-attacker with nearly five minutes remaining in the game. However, the move backfired as Even Hjelholt and Jak Thiessen passed to Joshua Cleary, whose long shot from the Flyers’ end zone hit the empty Buffalo net dead centre.
The final salvo came at 19:43 when Jak Thiessen cashed in an empty-net goal. But that last tally caused some hostility to erupt. Two Buffalo players were sidelined with 10-minute misconducts and one minor, while Flyer captain Jak Thiessen received a 10-minute misconduct.
Colten Dillen-Roch finished with 23 saves and ran his record to 5-0, while Logan Vitez took the loss and fell to 1-5.
In their first trip to Collingwood, the Flyers got off to a good start but that lasted only about 90 seconds. After that it was the Blues who dominated play. Blues forward Atom Thususka slotted the Blues’ first two markers, one at 2:11 and a powerplay during a five-on-three situation a bit later.
Those two first period goals were all the Blues would need to beat the Flyers and Colten Drillen-Roach. The Blues added the final salvo midway through the third.
Penalties hindered the Flyers’ game as they gave the Blues seven chances. Leamington’s biggest threat came during the game’s final five minutes and included a blown two-on-one breakaway. During that short spell they applied plenty of pressure and shots on net but couldn’t crack the netminding of Owen Edwards. They were outshot 49 to 27.
The Flyers won’t have any home games at the Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Complex this week. Instead, they play a ‘home’ game in the Governor’s Showcase held in Niagara Falls at the Gale Centre as one of two games they will participate in for the annual event. All 24 OJHL teams will play two games during the three-day event, with scouts from many leagues including the NCAA, OHL and NHL watching and assessing the talent.
The Flyers return home on Thursday, October 15 to host the Caledon Admirals at 7:10 pm.
