The Buffalo Jr. Sabres and the Orangeville Flyers were evenly matched throughout their contest, but Buffalo made the most of its opportunities and won, 4-2.
Neither team gained more than a two-goal lead, and David Baskerville‘s goal in the third period proved to be the difference maker.
The Jr. Sabres pulled out the victory even though they were hit with 19 penalty minutes.
Buffalo was led by Baskerville, who registered one goal. Baskerville scored 1:51 into the third period to make the score 3-2 Buffalo. Christian Zimmerman picked up the assist.
The Jr. Sabres forced Flyers’ goalies to work hard to keep the puck out of the net, ripping 34 shots and forcing 30 saves. Kasimir Krol made 22 stops and Nicholas Latinovich made eight. Buffalo put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow Orangeville to score on any of its six power plays.
Buffalo additionally got points from Zimmerman, who also tallied one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. Others who scored for Buffalo included Tim Nicksic and Nicholas Bondra, who each put in one. More assists for Buffalo came via Evan Bennett, Christopher Berger, Bryce Ferrell, and Ryan Wheeler, who each chipped in one.
The Flyers forced their penalty killing units to work especially hard during the game, picking up seven minors and one major for 19 minutes in penalty time. Orangeville surpassed its season average of 15.0 penalty minutes per game.
The Flyers were helped by Zack Vukosa, who had one goal. Vukosa scored 7:02 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Orangeville. Zack Lyons assisted on the tally. Orangeville also got a goal from Colin Rigney as well. In addition, Orangeville received assists from James Ranson and Lucas Smilsky, who contributed one each.
Tucker Weppner recorded 22 saves for the Jr. Sabres. Buffalo registered one goal on five power play opportunities. Orangeville ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Rigney was ejected from the game.
