The Oakville Blades are one win away from taking a playoff series victory following a 3-1 win over the North York Rangers in game three on Tuesday, March 7, 2017.
For the first time in the playoffs, the Blades found themselves down a goal, but not without a bit of drama beforehand. With just eight minutes completed in the game, the North York bench door was broken after a hard hit, delaying the game for 30 minutes.
Shortly after, the Rangers scored first. Noah Robinson, who scored twice against Oakville on Sunday, got his third of the playoffs after squeaking a shot below Brendan McGlynn’s glove and his left pad to make it 1-0.
But just minutes later, the Blades tied it up. After getting some chances on net, Bailey Newton’s shot would get tipped just in front of the crease by Bryce Misley, who put Oakville on the scoresheet for the first time.
The Blades would take a 2-1 after 15:34 of play, a lead that Oakville would never relinquish. From a similar angle as Robinson managed to score from, Chris Brill-Morgan took a loose puck away after Jack Ricketts made a nice move with it before sending a snapshot below the crossbar, putting Oakville in the lead.
Then, 19 minutes later, Brill-Morgan scored again. This time, Ryan Foss fought off two defenders before Brill-Morgan one-timed it past Jeremie Lintner’s diving blocker attempt to make it 3-1, finishing off the victory for Oakville.
With the win, Oakville will focus on game four on Wednesday night at 7:00 in North York. An Oakville win would result in the Blades taking the series, while a loss would require game five on Friday night, March 10, 2017 at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex at 7:30 PM.