With both clubs looking to improve on their 2013-2014 campaigns, the Oakville Blades traveled an hour up to Orangeville to take on the Flyers.
It was a much closer game for Oakville than their most recent meeting on Saturday, a 7-2 victory over Hamilton, but unfortunately a win was not in the cards as Orangeville skated to a 3-1 win.
The Blades were the first ones to get on the board. After a dominant contest against Hamilton, the Ross Sloan-Joe Mitchell-Ryan Burns line combination struck once again, with Mitchell potting one home short side. The lead wouldn’t last for long, however, as Derek Nesbitt took advantage of an Oakville defensive breakdown five minutes later and managed to bank the puck off of Brendan McGlynn and in.
Despite the goal against, McGlynn had a terrific first period. Showing great poise and focus between the pipes, McGlynn stopped multiple solid scoring chances during an early Orangeville power-play. One particular save stood out, as a deflected shot within the hashmarks was suddenly turned away by the blocker of the Blades sophomore.
The Blades got into a bit of penalty trouble during the first. The most significant call came against Brandon Hughes, who was given a two minute minor and a ten minute misconduct for head contact behind the Orangeville net.
Both teams were hungry in the first half of the second. The best scoring chance during that time went to Orangeville’s Ian Nichols, who was left alone in front of the net. Unfortunately for the forward, the great scoring chance was wasted after flicking the puck above the open cage and into the netting. His team would make up for it, as the puck would end up finding its way past a screened McGlynn and past the goal line.
At the other end of the ice, Wyatt Pickrell was outstanding for the Flyers. After recording a 0.846 SP in the game against Newmarket earlier this week, Pickrell was standing his ground on multiple great opportunities by the Blades. He did get a bit of help from his defensemen, however, who did a solid job forcing the Blades offense to the outer boards.
For the Blades, two newcomers stood out at the point. 14 year old Evan Bouchard, a member of the 1999 AAA Oakville Rangers team, saw his first action with the Blades tonight and meshed well with veteran defenseman Greg Campbell. The other blue liner was Braden Sampson, who, paired with Daniel Jelic, formed the most powerful defensive duo on the Blades.
Orangeville would extend their lead to two with 12:32 remaining in the contest. Derek Nesbitt, who was having a wonderful night, scored his second of the game after spinning around in front of the net and firing the puck over Daniel Mannella, who had taken over in the crease. The goal proved to be the final one, as a last ditch effort to tie the game by the Blades at the end went without a positive result. The Blades were handed their first loss of the pre-season, a 3-1 victory for the Orangeville Flyers.