The Oakville Blades put up a great effort, but their attempt at sweeping the weekend went unsuccessful after dropping a 7-5 decision to the Toronto Jr. Canadiens.
It didn't even take five minutes for the Blades to find the back of the net for the first time on Sunday. Brendan McGlynn was a big reason why the first goal was scored, making a huge pad save on a Dave Zeppieri breakaway to keep the game scoreless. The puck then made its way out of the zone, allowing Jackson Bales to skate in on the right wing with a lethal scoring chance. His dangerous wrist shot was very useful on the play, beating goalie Daniel Lopapa high blocker for the 1-0 goal early.
Just two minutes after that, a familiar face was able to find the scoresheet once again. After a four point performance on Saturday against Lindsay, Christian Rajic picked up his 22nd point in 14 games with a tremendous wrist shot from the slot, giving his team in white the 2-0 lead before the period was even half over.
The Jr. Canadiens were quick to fight back. With 10:53 left in the first, Adam DeLuca made a quick little deke past the right pad of McGlynn to make it 2-1. Then, less than a second later, Justin Maiolino crashed the crease and jammed it past the Blades netminder, good enough for the refs to earn the tying goal.
The back and forth game continued. Fortunately for the Blades, Tyler Rollo was lucky enough to have the puck bounce off of a defenseman in front, giving his team the 3-2 lead with nine minutes remaining in the period. It was a big moment for Rajic, as his assist on the play helped give him the points lead on the year, jumping over former Blades forward Jack Jeffers with his 23rd point in 14 games.
Then, two minutes later, Patrick Kudla continued his hot streak by notching his 22nd point of the year, getting it to Drew Worrad in front for the one-timer to give Oakville the 4-2 advantage with a good portion of the game still left to go.
The second period saw some tremendous goaltending from both goalies, with the first goal of the frame coming with just seven minutes left. The Blades were on the unlucky side of things, with Anthony Trujillo jamming it between McGlynn's pads and in. Then, two minutes after that, recently acquired forward Nico Gonzalez helped his new team out by tying the game up, making it 4-4. Lucas Colalillo added an extra one for JRC before the period came to a close, tapping in one close for the 5-4 lead heading into the intermission.
Oakville's five game winning streak appeared to be heading towards an unfortunate end in the third period. With about eight minutes remaining, Maiolino got his second goal of the game after scooping up the loose puck in front and beating McGlynn glove side, taking the 6-4 lead in the final minutes of play. Gonzalez would score another one for Toronto. Bales would tip in a shot from Kudla late in the match, but Oakville would unfortunately fail to take the victory in a 7-4 loss on Sunday.
Oakville will return to Sixteen Mile this coming Friday for their annual food drive game against the Toronto Patriots. Puck drop is set for 7:30pm, so hope to see you and your canned food there!