Flyers winning streak halted at five by Blues

By C. Scott Holland

A 5-4 double-overtime loss in Collingwood on Friday, September 20 snapped the Leamington Flyers five-game win streak to start the season, but they still remained in first place — one point ahead of the Collingwood Blues.

That followed a nifty 3-1 victory over the Niagara Falls Canucks at home on Thursday night.

Thursday’s contest wasn’t an overpowering offensive game despite the fact that the Flyers outshot the visiting Canucks badly (51-27), but they made up for it with some good defensive work over the game’s three periods to get a 3-1 victory via a couple of timely third-period tallies in front of 730 fans. 

The lone dent in Flyers’ starter Tre Altiman’s armour came late in the first period from in close when Canuck player Lucas Sauve got his shot from the edge of the crease past Altiman. 

The Flyers struggled to get pucks past Niagara starter Ian Wintle, who stopped enough rubber to pave a street. The Flyers outshot the Canucks 20-7 in the first but were down 1-0 going into the middle frame.

There were only two penalties called per side in the game and Niagara Falls took their pair in a 25-second span early in the second. 

With a five-on-three advantage, the Flyers Colton Smith rifled a top-of-the-slot bullet which eluded Wintle to break the shutout bid. 

Yet the Flyers never got the chance on the second Canucks’ penalty as Anthony Ciaramitaro was handed a tripping penalty with over one minute remaining in the powerplay.

The contest remained tied until the third period when the Flyers’ offense put them into the lead. 

Throughout the first 40 minutes, the Flyers tested Wintle often, with 18 shots in the second period.

In the third, both teams vied for puck control and much of the period’s play was centered around creating scoring opportunities of which neither side had many. But the Flyers showed a surge of energy and made the best of their shots on Wintle. 

At 6:38, Leamington was rewarded with the go-ahead goal when Michael Denney and Colton Smith hooked up with Carter Gillen who stole the puck in the neutral zone and drilled his first Jr. B goal from the top of the slot. 

A minute later, Brody Cook drilled a long blast from an area identical to Gillen’s and it sailed past Wintle to give Leamington a precious 3-1 lead. Over the course of the next 14 minutes, the Flyers’ defense and some amazing goaltending by Altiman kept the Canucks off the board and preserved the 3-1 margin. The win left the Flyers alone in first place in the west before heading into Friday night’s game in Collingwood. 

“I thought we controlled a lot of the game,” said head coach Dale Mitchell. “We generated plenty of goal-scoring chances, yet we still have some things we need to clean up. I think we executed well when we had to and shut them down when it was needed.”

In Collingwood on Friday night, it was a very physical contest and one in which the Collingwood Blues controlled a good portion. 

The Blues took a 1-0 lead into the second and added an early marker to go ahead 2-0. 

However, the Flyers offense surged to take a 3-2 lead as Adrian Bosev, Colton Smith and Tyler McGuire all ripped goals.

The Flyers defence played much of the third in their own end and surrendered the game-tying goal on a powerplay, then bounced back quickly to grab a brief 4-3 lead on Mason Landry’s tally. 

But that was all the Flyers could muster as 46 seconds after acquiring the lead, the Blues knotted again. 

After a scoreless first overtime, the Blues tabbed the game-winning goal in the second OT for a 5-4 win and handed Leamington their first defeat. Flyers’ goalie Marcus Vandenberg stopped 23 of 28 shots. 

This Thursday the Flyers will have a rare night off and will not play at home. Their next home contest is Thursday, October 3 vs the Georgetown Raiders at 7:10 pm.