(North York, ON) – Ryan Schmelzer (in photo) scored a hat trick and added two assists, while Tyler Gjurich recorded five assists, as the Buffalo Jr. Sabres rolled over the Toronto Jr. Canadiens, 7-2, at the Chesswood Arenas in North York, Ontario on Saturday night.
Jr. Sabres captain Derek Patterson (son of former Buffalo Sabre and Calgary Flame Colin Patterson) opened the scoring less than a minute into the first period. Adam Logozzo responded for the Jr. Canadiens at the 10:21 mark of the first to send the teams into the first intermission tied 1-1.
Schmelzer (a resident of East Amherst, NY) scored his first goal on the power play at the 5:10 mark of the second period. Mark Powell built Buffalo’s lead to 3-1 just under three minutes later. Toronto’s Dalton Hnatko got the Jr. Canadiens back into the game with his goal at the 15:00 mark of the second period, but the rest of the offense belonged to Buffalo. Jr. Sabres forwards Pat Egan and Alex Dagnal both scored in the final minute of the second period to send Buffalo into the intermission with a more comfortable 5-2 lead.
Schmelzer completed his hat trick in the third period with two power play goals.
Jr. Sabres goaltender Parker Gahagen improved his record to five wins and one loss, turning aside 27 shots. Buffalo put a total 38 shots on the Toronto net.
The Jr. Sabres return to game action on Sunday, September 30 when they host the Hamilton Red Wings at the Northtown Center at Amherst, beginning at 7:00pm.
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Due to internet server issues in North York, Saturday night’s game was not available on FASTHockey.com as scheduled. The Jr. Sabres have been in contact with FASTHockey officials, who tell the Jr. Sabres that, upon the conclusion of their own investigation into why the game failed to broadcast, refunds would be available to fans who were charged for the game but were not provided the service.
We will keep you updated on developments.
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