Gabriel Valenzuela was all over the ice for the North York Rangers, as he tallied four goals and one assist in North York’s 7-4 win over the Buffalo Jr. Sabres.
Valenzuela notched his first tally 5:44 into the first period. He then added goals at 3:00 into the second, at 15:58 into the second, and at 17:43 into the second.
The Rangers pulled out the victory even though they were hit with 14 penalty minutes.
North York forced Buffalo goalie Alex Connal to work between the pipes, taking 47 shots. The Rangers surpassed their usual scoring output this season. This season, North York averages 3.7 goals per contest. The Rangers were ineffective while on the power play, as they were held to two goals off of nine man advantages.
North York additionally got points from Zachary Fung, who also had one goal and one assist. Others who scored for North York included Michael Morgan and Jake Harris, who each put in one. Other players who recorded assists for North York were Ted Hunt, Will Reilly, and Louis Kereakou, who contributed one each and Jeremy Szabo, Christian Zanetti, and Matthew Whittaker, who each chipped in two.
The Jr. Sabres were forced to rely heavily on their penalty kill unit throughout the game, as they racked up 18 penalty minutes.
Buffalo was helped by Chris Moses, who grabbed one goal. Moses scored 9:19 into the second period to make the score 3-2 Buffalo. David Baskerville assisted on the tally. Buffalo also got points from Tim Nicksic, who also registered one goal and one assist, Christopher Berger, who also tallied one goal and one assist, and Josh Gabriel, who also racked up one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. In addition, Buffalo received assists from Zach Evancho and Ryan Kuhn, who contributed one each.
North York’s Andrew Cipollone stopped 23 shots out of the 27 that he faced. Connal recorded 40 saves for the Jr. Sabres. Buffalo registered one goal on seven power play opportunities.
