The Oakville Blades will finish the weekend off with a 3-2 victory over their close-town rivals, the Burlington Cougars.
With just 13 shots between the two clubs in the first period, there weren't many offensive chances at either end of the ice. Oakville's Brendan McGlynn looked strong during the first 20 minutes, stopping all eight shots sent his way to give his team some momentum, and kept the game scoreless heading into the second period.
With half the game left to go, the Cougars scored a pair to take the 2-0 lead. First, Matt Kenney came in on net after taking a pass from Zack Fisher and beat McGlynn through the legs, making it 1-0 Burlington. Then, a minute later, Phillip Lagunov got one from in close to give the visiting team the 2-0 lead with a good portion of the game left to be played.
But the Blades were hungry for one, so they scored one. At 12:10 of the second, Tyler Hildebrandt tipped in the puck on a Bryce Misley and beat former Blades affiliated player Mario Cavaliere for the 2-1 goal.
The Blades would take the lead before the end of the second thanks to one of the biggest acquisitions of the season. At 13:28, Jack Jeffers took a pass at the doorstep from Misley and roofed it over Cavaliere's shoulder and in.
With the exciting nature of the second period, which featured five goals getting traded in a momentum-filled contest, the third period was unpredictable. Fortunately for the Blades, the team kept a strong defensive game and McGlynn played to a high standard to keep all the remaining shots out of the net. As a result, the Blades held the 3-2 victory, staying ahead of Burlington in the standings.
Oakville will return to Sixteen Mile next Friday when the Toronto Patriots come to town for a 7:30 PM start. Then, on Saturday, one of the most anticipated games of the year will commence with the annual Pink in the Rink match against the Wellington Dukes. Hope to see you there!