It was a tough start, but the Oakville Blades managed to pull through to beat the Milton Icehawks 7-3 on Saturday night to sweep the weekend.
The Blades struck first. Just seven seconds into the first power-play of the game, Drew Worrad took the puck off of a rebound from a shot by Brayden Sampson and fired it past Will Rawski.
Milton rebounded just 30 seconds after. Noah Robinson took the puck up the ice and sent it past Chris Elliott’s right pad, tying the game up at one.
With 2:34 left in the game, the Icehawk was able to put another one in the back of the net. This time, Elliott made a stop on Brad Lindsay‘s shot, only to have Brad Yowart one-time the puck in at the doorstep on a rebound chance to make it 2-1 Milton.
Chris Brill-Morgan was fresh off of a three-goal performance on Friday night against Buffalo, and he wasn’t done with the scoresheet this weekend. At 2:36 in the first period, Brayden Sampson took a shot on net, with the intention of having someone pick it up in front. Brill-Morgan was the lucky recipient, shooting on the empty cage to make it 2-2.
With eight minutes complete in the second, Oakville finally got the lead back. Bryce Misley, Oakville’s leading scorer with 27 points heading into the game, took the pass from friendly face Ryan Foss and fired a hard wrist shot past Rawski to take the 3-2 lead.
At 16:25 in the second, Oakville doubled up their lead. This time, Matthew Kellenberger sauced the puck out to Christian Rajic in front, who had stumbled at first but then fired in the puck on the empty cage to make it 4-2.
Unfortunately for the Blades, Milton would score one to bring the deficit closer. After taking a pass from the corner, Brad Lindsay scored on the one-timer in close to put Milton within one before the end of the second period.
The Blades would score in the third again to bring back their two-goal advantage. Captain Jackson Bales would put his name in the goal column after taking a pass from Foss and firing it into the twine, giving Oakville the 5-3 lead. Matthew Kellenberger would add one with under three minutes to go; and Tyler Hildebrandt would add one of his own, giving Oakville the 7-3 lead and the victory in the process.
Oakville will play at home against next Friday against the Orangeville Flyers, a 7:30 PM start at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. Hope to see you there!