The Stouffville Spirit relied on the scoring touch of Matthew Heffernan, who netted two goals, to beat the Buffalo Jr. Sabres, 5-2.
Heffernan found the back of the net 9:13 into the second period to make the score 2-1 Stouffville and again while on the power play 11:09 into the second to make the score 3-1 Stouffville.
Buffalo’s power play was ineffective against Stouffville’s penalty kill, which allowed zero goals while shorthanded.
The Spirit put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow the Jr. Sabres to score on any of their six power plays. Team’s forwards weren’t the only contributers offensively, and the team’s defensemen showcased their scoring touch with four goals.
Stouffville also got points from Matthew Dunlop, who also finished with one goal and one assist. Others who scored for Stouffville included Peyton Backus and Kyler Challis, who scored one goal each. More assists for Stouffville came via Michael Stevens and Joseph Deveny, who contributed one a piece and Tyson Bruce, Justin Wain, and Nick Thomakos, who each chipped in two.
Buffalo could not produce up to it normal offensive output. The Jr. Sabres put an average of 4.7 pucks into the net per game.
Buffalo was led by Dylan Gamble, who grabbed one goal. Gamble scored 9:48 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Buffalo. Nathan Black provided the assist. Buffalo also got a goal from Michael Ederer as well. In addition, Buffalo received assists from Josh Gabriel and Nick Desimone, who contributed one a piece.
Daniel Mannella rejected 20 shots on goal for Stouffville. The Spirit incurred 14 minutes in penalty time with seven minors. Brandon Mueller took the loss and made 14 saves before being replaced by Joseph Pianta who made four saves. The Jr. Sabres incurred 14 minutes in penalty time with seven minors.