The scoring started early and happened often on Friday at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex as the Oakville Blades defeated the Mississauga Chargers by a score of 8-2.
The start was everything the Blades could dream for with top scorer Bryce Misley out with Team Canada East at the World Junior A Challenge. First, with six shots on the board for Oakville and none for Mississauga, Jackson Doherty made a great play with the puck, holding off a defender in the offensive zone before sending the puck out to Jack Ricketts, who fired the one-timer in for the 1-0 goal.
Then at 6:56, the Blades made it 2-0. This time, Peyton Reeves took a feed from Chris Brill-Morgan, easily beating the opposing netminder and hitting the twine to double up the lead early.
Just before the period got halfway done, Mississauga was forced into a goalie change thanks to a 3-0 Blades lead on 11 shots. Ryan Foss had a lot of room to deal with the puck, but decided to pass it back to a streaking Christian Rajic. Rajic typically isn’t denied when given the opportunity, firing the puck hard in the top corner to make it 3-0 for the home team.
But on Mississauga’s third shot, the Chargers were able to get one themselves. Christopher Karabassis was in a good spot to receive a pass from the corner and one-timed it between Chris Elliot’s legs, cutting Oakville’s lead to two.
The game got a little tighter after that, with Oakville looking to pot another. Their best chance early in the second game at the eight-minute mark when Jack Jeffers broke into the zone all alone. Unfortunately, his slick move would get stopped by goaltender Patrick O’Leary, keeping the score at 3-1.
With just over five minutes to go in the second, the Blades took the 4-1 advantage. Nicholas Turenko took a hard shot on net, only to get blocked in front. Evan Brown was in a perfect spot to pick up the play, however, tapping it in at the doorstep to make it 4-1 Blades.
The Blades had full momentum, and that led to a 5-1 lead. Daniel Jelic would get a rare goal after using a screen by Jackson Bales in front to fire a shot from the point, beating O’Leary cleanly for the four-goal advantage.
Oakville wasn’t done scoring. Shortly after the fifth goal, Bales got one for himself, waiting patiently with the puck before easily getting one past Mississauga’s goaltender, giving Oakville the 6-1 lead heading into the intermission.
With Jeffers in the box, the Chargers got one on the power play. Kyler Matthews scored one off a screen in front, deflecting off the Chargers forward and in to make it 6-2, with the Blades still well in control.
The Blades were able to get goals from different players on all their goals on Friday, including their seventh just after the halfway mark of the third. This time, Tyler Hildebrandt took a pass from newcomer Bailey Newton and skated into the zone, with just one defender in his way. Hildebrandt was hungry to get on the board and cut in front of the crease, tapping it in past the left pad to make it 7-2 for Oakville.
Oakville wasn’t done just yet. With under five minutes to go, Chris Brill-Morgan became the eighth different Blades player to score against Mississauga, trickling it in after O’Leary failed to catch it with his glove. It was the final goal for the home team, who would skate into Sunday’s contest on the road against the Toronto Jr. Canadiens with the 8-2 victory.
Oakville will play their final home game of 2016 next Friday, December 16, 2016 when the Georgetown Raiders come to town. You won’t want to miss it, as there will be many giveaways all game long! Puck drops at 7:30 PM, hope to see you there!