Behind a great game by Christopher Berger, who had two goals and one assist, the Buffalo Jr. Sabres defeated the Toronto Jr. Canadiens Junior Canadiens, 6-2.
Berger scored on the power play at 11:23 into the second period to make the score 2-1 Toronto Jr. Canadiens and again while 6:24 into the third to make the score 3-2 Buffalo.
Buffalo’s penalty kill excelled, as the Jr. Sabres gave up one goal despite allowing eight power plays.
Buffalo’s penalty box was a popular destination as the team totaled 10 minors and one major for 35 minutes in penalty time. The Jr. Sabres surpassed its season average of 25.0 penalty minutes per game. Buffalo forced Junior Canadiens’ goaltenders to work between the pipes, racking up 45 shots and forcing 39 saves. Brendan Bonello made 39 stops and Jacob Tersigni made zero. Team could not crack Toronto Jr. Canadiens’ penalty kill and was held to two power play goals while having 10 opportunities to play with the man advantage.
Buffalo additionally got points from Zach Evancho, who also registered one goal and two assists, David Baskerville, who also finished with one goal and two assists to lead the team in points, Michael Benaquist Jr., who also had one goal and one assist, and Ryan Wheeler, who also grabbed one goal and one assist. More assists for Buffalo came via Aaron Reinig, Evan Bennett, Griffin Lunn, and Christian Zimmerman, who each chipped in one.
The Junior Canadiens racked up the penalties in the contest, and ended with 13 minors and one major for 41 minutes in penalty time. The total exceeded the 16.0 minutes per game Toronto Jr. Canadiens had been spending in the box. The Junior Canadiens’ offense rang up 32 shots on the Jr. Sabres’ net.
Toronto Jr. Canadiens was helped by Nico Gonzalez, who registered one goal. Gonzalez scored 8:48 into the second period to make the score 2-0 Toronto Jr. Canadiens. George Novachis picked up the assist. Andrew Mullen also scored for Toronto Jr. Canadiens. In addition, Toronto Jr. Canadiens received assists from Anthony Trujillo, Nicholas Jarzabek, and David Zeppieri, who contributed one each.
Brian Kowalski made 30 saves for Buffalo on 32 shots. For the Jr. Sabres, Mitchell Spring was ejected from the game. For the Junior Canadiens, Zeppieri and Eric Eremita were ejected from the contest.
