The Buffalo Jr. Sabres’ Zach Evancho scored 4:41 into overtime to beat the Aurora Tigers, 4-3 (OT).
Buffalo overcame a three-goal deficit to capture the victory. The Jr. Sabres was down 3-0 after a power play goal by Aurora’s Daniel Mantenuto at 15:12 in the second period. Buffalo tied things up at 3-3 on a goal by Brenden Dunning at 18:41 in the third period.
Referees had their hands full with a major incident at 13:30 into the second period. Four fighting penalties were dished out along with two game misconducts.
The Jr. Sabres were often in penalty trouble, totaling 11 minors and one major for 57 minutes in penalty time. The total exceeded the 31.0 minutes per game Buffalo had been spending in the box. The Jr. Sabres’ offense rang up 37 shots on the Tigers’ net.
Buffalo was led by David Baskerville, who tallied one goal and two assists. Baskerville scored on the power play 17:50 into the second period to make the score 3-1 Aurora. The Jr. Sabres had gained a power play chance when Alex Boudreau was whistled for high sticking. Aaron Reinig provided the assist. Buffalo additionally got points from Reinig, who also registered one goal and one assist. Other players who recorded assists for Buffalo were Christopher Berger, who had one and Tim Nicksic, who had three.
Aurora racked up the penalties in the contest, and ended with 12 minors and one major for 39 minutes in penalty time. The Tigers had been averaging 25.0 minutes in penalties per game. Aurora forced Buffalo goalie Tucker Weppner to work between the pipes, taking 41 shots. Team could not crack the Jr. Sabres’ penalty kill and was held to two power play goals while having nine opportunities to play with the man advantage.
Darren Iwai also scored for Aurora. In addition, Aurora received assists from Drake Board, who had two and Kyle Locke and Todd Winder, who contributed one each.
Weppner rejected 38 shots on goal for Buffalo. The Jr. Sabres registered one goal on eight power play opportunities. Team’s Wilson Vershayand Michael Benaquist Jr. were slapped with misconducts and ejected from the game. Alex Brooks-Potts made 33 saves for the Tigers on 37 shots. For Aurora, James Thomson and Jacob Piltzmaker were ejected from the contest.