The first 40 minutes were close, but the Oakville Blades managed to have a strong third period in an eventual 6-2 victory over the Whitby Fury on Friday night at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.
It didn’t even take half a period for Oakville to unleash the teddy bears. Bryce Misley, Oakville’s top scorer heading into the game with 32 points, Bryce Misley, got the game started with a quick wrister close to the net, beating Whitby netminder Logan Gauthier for the 1-0 lead.
The goal triggered Oakville’s second annual Teddy Bear Toss, where fans were asked to bring a stuffed animal and throw it on the ice to help out the Oakville Firefighters Toy Drive. Misley was the one to do so, with hundreds of stuffed animals raining from the stands.
But Whitby would tie it up with 6:33 left in the opening period. Just after Nicholas Turenko tangled with a referee, Tiger MacDonald skated into the right of Brendan McGlynn and wristed it over his blocker, tying the game at one apiece.
With 14 minutes left in the second, the Blades made it 2-1. Pressing for the next marker, Evan Brown made a great pass after rushing into the zone, finding Matt Hayami at the doorstep. For the second straight game, Hayami got Oakville’s second goal in the contest, the go-ahead marker, to make it 2-1 for the home team.
Whitby tied the game up at two early into the third, with Ryan Taylor scoring on the power play just 51 seconds into the final frame.
But an explosive three-minute stretch for the Blades saw the home team take full advantage. First, at 10:16, Jackson Bales got one on the power play after taking a pass in the slot and firing a strong wrist shot past Gauthier, giving Oakville the lead once again.
Then, a minute later, Peyton Reeves extended Oakville’s lead to two goals. This time, the hard-nosed winger used Chris Brill-Morgan as a perfect screen, sending the shot over Gauthier’s glove and in for the 4-2 advantage.
At 12:23, Jack Jeffers added to the fun after taking a wrist-shot from the slot after taking a pass from Drew Worrad, giving the Blades the big 5-2 lead.
But Oakville wasn’t done. With under three minutes left to go in the contest, Bales tallied his second of the night after skating in all alone and beating Gauthier on the shorthanded breakaway, giving the Blades the 6-2 lead in a game that would end up going Oakville’s way.
The Blades will return to action in a game against the St. Michael’s Buzzers at home on Saturday. Puck drop at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex is at 7:30 PM, hope to see you there!