(North York, ON) – The Buffalo Jr. Sabres and North York Rangers met for the last time this season, with the visiting Jr. Sabres coming in off a 5-3 win at Mississauga the night before. Buffalo was unable to carry the momentum into Sunday afternoon, as North York jumped out to the early lead and only once was deadocked with Buffalo until taking the lead for good later in the first period.
John Carpino put North York on the board first with his goal at the 8:19 mark. The Jr. Sabres’ Pat Egan (in file photo) evened the score at the 15:31 mark of the first, assisted by Max MIkowski and Nathan Pelligra. Corey Kalk put the Rangers back in the lead with his goal with just 17 seconds left in the opening period.
Nicholas Geiser extended the hosts’ lead to 3-1 at the 6:11 mark of the second, but then Nolan Sheeran scored a power play goal at the 12:58 mark to get the Jr. Sabres back to within one goal of tying the game. Pelligra earned his second assist of the game while Dylan Howatt got the other.
The game remained 3-2 in favor of the hosts, who outshot Buffalo 34-29 in the game but at moments were struggling to keep Buffalo out of the North York zone. Coming through for the Rangers with clutch saves was Avery Allen, whose key stops included a point-blank save of a Tyler Gjurich shot. Ryan Kinsella scored an empty net goal with less than a minute remaining to seal the win for the Rangers.
Parker Gahagen turned aside 30 shots in the losing effort, while Allen made 27 saves.
The Jr. Sabres return to game action on Monday night, October 22, at home against the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots beginning at 7:30pm in the Northtown Center at Amherst.
