The Buffalo Jr. Sabres look to extend a three-game winning streak as they return home to host the North York Rangers Wednesday evening at the First Niagara Rink at HARBORCENTER in downtown Buffalo.
The Jr. Sabres head into the month of December after winning three straight games in the last week of November.
That included, most recently, a 5-2 defeat of the Pickering Panthers on Black Friday. The Jr. Sabres also pulled off an impressive 11-4 victory over the Mississauga Chargers last Wednesday, and a 4-2 win over the Orangeville Flyers last Monday.
Buffalo hasn’t lost since November 21, when they fell 6-4 to the Stouffville Spirit.
Tonight’s game is the third meeting between Buffalo and North York this season. The Jr. Sabres have captured both wins against the Rangers, defeating them 5-4 and 5-1, respectively.
After tonight, they’ll face off once more, on January 10th in North York.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Several Buffalo Jr. Sabres players are carrying point streaks into Wednesday’s game, including Bryce Ferrell, who has registered seven points (2-5) in the team’s last four games. Forward Tim Nicksic also has a solid streak going, with five points (4-1) in the last three games.
Forward Ryan Wheeler has registered five assists in the last four games.
Griffin Lunn, Dylan Seitz, Joshua Biasillo and Michael Benaquist Jr. also have their own streaks, each with a two-game point streak.
Lunn has four points (3-1) in the last two games, while Seitz (0-3) and Biasillo (2-1) each have three points. Benaquist has potted two points – both goals – in the last two games.
Other players to watch tonight for the Jr. Sabres include forward David Baskerville, who has nine points (4-5) in the last five games; and captain Zach Evancho, with 13 points (5-8) in the last eight games. Evancho leads the Jr. Sabres overall with 42 points (16-26) in 31 games this season.
Evancho, Nicksic, Lunn and Nicholas Bondra are the only four players to have appeared in every game this season for Buffalo.
VIEW FROM THE TOP
Entering Wednesday’s game, the Jr. Sabres hold the top spot in the West Division of the Ontario Junior Hockey League. They carry a three-point edge over the Georgetown Raiders, with 39 points to Georgetown’s 36. Buffalo has overall gone 18-10-1-2 this season. A win this evening would give Buffalo a five-point edge on the Raiders, who are inactive Wednesday/
The North York Rangers, Buffalo’s opponent, is third in the South Division with a 14-10-1-4 record and 33 points. They’re behind Oakville (17-8-2-1) and the Toronto Jr. Canadiens (16-9-2-2). With both of those teams inactive tonight, a win would move the Rangers closer to the top of the division, but still wouldn’t quite get them there.
A LOOK AHEAD
Following Wednesday’s home tilt with the Rangers, the Jr. Sabres face a pair of consecutive road games this weekend at Toronto Lakeshore (Sat., 8 pm) and Toronto Jr. Canadiens (Sun., 7:30 pm). They’ll return home to host the Wellington Dukes on December 9 (7:35 pm), then close things out with a trip to Milton (Dec. 11, 7:30 pm) before the holiday break.
