The Leamington Flyers extended their winning streak to six games with a trio of wins over the past week.
A 4-0 shutout of Trenton on Tuesday, October 20 was followed up by a 7-3 drubbing of St. Michael’s back home here Thursday. They capped the weekend off by beating Niagara Falls 5-1 on Sunday here at home.
On Tuesday in Trenton, the Flyers jumped out to a slim 1-0 lead late in the opening period when Griffin Grundner popped a rebound into the open right side of the net.
The second frame was fairly calm, but the Flyers notched two markers to take a 3-0 lead. At 6:11 Ashton Darocy found the target, then at 13:53 Josh Cleary and Griffin Grundner went on a two-on-one break with Cleary giving Grundner an open left side to put the puck into.
In the third period, the Flyers finished their scoring at 5:36 with a man advantage when Darocy unleashed a left lane bullet that Hawks’ goalie Simon Godin had no chance to snare.
At 18:47 and deep in the Trenton zone, several players clashed and it turned into a battle of fists plus a pile of players on the ice. When everything was sorted out, Flyer Chase Pettipiece was handed a match penalty and subsequently suspended for five games.
Goalie Colten Drillen-Roach picked up the shutout, stopping all 32 shots he faced. It was also the first appearance of Landon Pickersgill who played for the team last season and had been with the Sarnia Sting (OHL).
At home last Thursday night, the Flyers were sluggish in the opening 10 minutes but got their offense rolling and beat the St. Michael’s Buzzers 7-3. Tomas Kniaziew got the victory in goal.
The Buzzers opened the scoring three minutes into the game, but Josh Cleary knotted the game at 9:19 when he planted Pickersgill’s pass. Just a minute later, St. Michael’s Tyler Clark collected his own rebound and slipped it past Kniaziew for a 2-1 lead.
Midway through the first, Judd Knauft found Braedon Clark who pumped a left point laser towards the Buzzers’ net and watched it elude starter Massimo Tomassi.
While on a powerplay at 14:50, Ashton Darocy and Brendan Cooke worked the puck to Griffin Grundner who popped it into the open right side. Cleary netted his second of the game by parking Jordan Maine’s rebound and captain Jak Thiessen finished the period’s scoring by guiding a shot into the open right side.
In the middle frame, Pickersgill collected his first Flyers goal of the season when he was in the right spot at the right time and tapped in a rebound. Tyler McGuire laid the groundwork on the Flyers last goal as he found Cleary who connected with Darocy, who plunged through the centre of the Buzzers’ zone and hammered a shot home.
St. Michael’s replied with one last salvo in third but couldn’t overcome the Flyers’ lead.
On Sunday at home against the Niagara Falls Canucks, the Flyers bombarded Canucks’ goalie Timofey Williams throughout the game and shot out to a 4-0 first period. Those four tallies were all the Flyers needed as they topped the Canucks 5-1.
The game was speedy and featured only a handful of penalties, most of which came in the third. The Flyers dominated much of the contest and opened the scoring early as Judd Knauft notched his first goal as a Flyer. Griffin Grundner followed up five minutes later and Landon Pickersgill made it 3-0 before the 10-minute mark. Jack Wadsworth slipped in the fourth tally during the last minute of play in the opening frame.
One minute into the second, Canucks forward Jimmy Meekma got the lone puck past Flyers’ starter Colten Drillen-Roach. Late in the period, Ashton Darocy capped the Flyers’ offensive assault.
Drillen-Roach stopped 15 of the 16 shots he faced, while Williams had a busy night halting 48 of 53.
The Flyers will complete their homestand this Thursday, October 29 vs the Milton Menace at 7:10 pm.
