The Oakville Blades hockey team played two away games this weekend: one in Collingwood and the second in Georgetown. With one win and one loss, time is running out for the team to pull ahead this season.
Feb. 25, 2022: Oakville Blades @ Collingwood Blues
After a crushing overtime loss at the hands of the Burlington Cougars, the Blades looked to get back in the win column with a game against the Blues on the road.
The Blades were lucky to get some players back in the lineup like Mason Zebeski and Yanni Kaidonis but unfortunately did not have captain Brenden Bowie and forward Lucas Smith in the lineup for this game.
Smith is still out recovering from a shoulder injury and Bowie is out for the rest of the season with a ruptured spleen.
Luckily the Blades were able to use two AP call ups in Matthew Indovina and Luca Rosati in order to help the Blades out and give them more players.
The game started with a great back and forth pace and a very even game between the two teams.
Oakville found themselves on the power play midway through the period and near the end of the man advantage Andrew Brown shot the puck from the blue line through a screen and the puck found its way past Collingwood goalie Noah Pack and the Blades took the first lead of the game at 1-0.
Near the end of the first period, Oakville caught another break when Mason Zebeski found a loose puck in the neutral zone and turned it into a breakaway for the Blades.
Zebeski found the back of the net on a stick-side shot and gave the Blades a 2-0 lead that the team took into the first intermission.
Just before the five-minute mark of the second period, Collingwood cut the lead to one after Dylan Hudon scored off of an Ayden Dooley rebound making the score 2-1.
Near the 12 minute mark of the period, Zach Wigle took a pass from Chase Strychaluk in the defensive zone and he bursted towards the net.
Wigle tried to get the puck back to Strychaluk but the puck went off of a Collingwood defender and into the net, giving Oakville a 3-1 lead.
Oakville held that lead for the rest of the period and both teams went into the second intermission with Oakville up two goals.
But unfortunately for the Blades, the injury bug bit them again with veteran defenseman Cole Weinger going down with a bad knee injury.
Once Weinger came off the ice he was unable to put any weight on the injured leg and needed to be helped off the ice by his teammates and helped into the dressing room.
In the third period, the Blues were given a power play near the 10-minute mark of the period and looked to get back in the game.
They did just that with a great shot by Will Redick from the right-wing boards that found its way in bringing the score to 3-2 Blades.
After that goal went in, the Blades young players played an amazing defensive game and did not give Collingwood many chances to tie the game.
The game was capped off with a Mason Zebeski empty-net goal that sealed the 4-2 win for the Blades. This is a huge road win with many veteran players out with injury.
After the game, rookie Zach Wigle commented on how the rookies were able to take the veteran responsibilities at the end of the game saying "It’s tough but we have great coaching and great leadership, all the guys on our team can play the big minutes."
Feb. 26, 2022: Georgetown Raiders @ Oakville Blades
After a big win on the road in Collingwood, the Blades returned home for a game against the Georgetown Raiders in the OJHL’s game of the week on CHCH television.
The game had a very good pace to start the first period and both teams traded chances early.
Georgetown was the first to get on the scoreboard with a goal by Rhys Chiddenton from below the face-off circle that found its way through Cole DeFazio’s legs to give the Raiders the early 1-0 lead.
The raiders almost went up 2-0 but Jack Natyshak was called for goaltender interference on the play, negating a goal for Georgetown and sending the Blades to the power play.
Oakville was unable to score on the power play and the first period ended with a 1-0 lead for the Raiders.
In the second period, the Raiders were given a power play of their own and Rhys Chiddenton scored again off of a rebound to put the Raiders up 2-0.
After a stretch of Raiders chances, Chase Strychaluk blocked a shot in the defensive zone and went on a breakaway.
Strychaluk went glove side over the goaltender and scored, cutting the score to 2-1 Raiders and that is how the second period ended.
In the third period, Oakville lost yet another major member of their team when Zach Wigle was taken down on a 2 on 1 and landed hard against the boards.
Wigle tried to play a few more shifts but was taken out of the game and no timetable has been given on his status.
Shortly after an Oakville power play, Georgetown found a loose puck and broke up the ice on a 2 on 1 and Eric Russel sent a beautiful pass to Owen Holmes and he made no mistake on the play and scored to make the game 3-1 Raiders.
As the minutes ticked down, Oakville got a power play near the end of the game and pulled their goalie for an extra attacker.
Unfortunately, a missed pass went all the way down the ice into the Blades zone and Andrew Della Rovere scored into the empty net to give Georgetown a 4-1 lead.
Oakville did get a goal in garbage time by Yanni Kaidonis with a great pass by Adam Tucci but that was all the Blades could do, they dropped this game 4-2.
The Blades look for revenge on Wednesday, March 2 when they play these same Raiders in Georgetown.