The Buffalo Jr. Sabres crossed the border to travel to Oakville to take on the Blades at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex Friday night. The visiting squad, who are known for their high scoring forwards behind coach Michael Peca, made the most of their trip to the Greater Toronto Area, taking down the Blades with an easy 9-2 victory following a six goal period during the middle frame.
It only took three minutes for the Sabres to take the first lead of the contest on only their fifth shot. Newcomer Chris Moses, who already has 19 points in 16 contests with the GOJHL's Buffalo Regals this season, managed to get the puck between the legs of goaltender Brendan McGlynn and into the net to hand Buffalo the early 1-0 lead. Three minutes later, Pat Egan squeaked the puck past the sprawling Oakville goaltender to double the advantage to 2-0 quick.
The Blades weren't willing to let this slide after coming off a 5-4 win last Sunday against the Milton Icehawks. Following two goals by the opposing squad, Oakville managed to get one of their own when forward Sean Perichak deked passed a Buffalo defender, got the puck to Dalton Bew who ripped the puck over the glove of Joseph Pianta and into the net to cut the lead in half. Unfortunately for the hometown Blades, Buffalo got their two goal lead back when Moses, who was competing in just his first OJHL contest, ripped the puck over the glove of McGlynn for his second goal of the period.
Buffalo got off to a strong start in the second period when forward Darren McCormick scored after a fantastic pass via Michael Ederer on a two on one with only three minutes in. On the upside, Oakville managed to play the following few minutes with high intensity, recording six shots in just the next four minutes. Depleted, the Sabres called a thirty second time-out to hopefully re-gain momentum. It worked well in their favour. Shortly after, former Connecticut Oilers forward Nick Desimone added to his team's leading point total with a great shot in the top corner to make it 5-1.
Buffalo wasn't done with their second period onslaught, scoring three more before the period even came to a close. First, a power-play goal by Dylan Gamble made the game 6-1, only to have Tim Kielich pot his first of the season less then thirty seconds after. To finish off the period, McCormick scored his seventh of the year and second of the frame to finish off a highly impressive period by the Jr. Sabres.
With Evan Buitenhuis not dressed for the game, James Cyfko was called upon to take to the crease for the third period. The Markham Majors goaltender had played previously in the OJHL with the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots last year, allowing one goal in a relief effort that saw his club lose 6-3 to the North York Rangers. Coming off the bench cold to play the final twenty minutes, Cyfko allowed a breakaway goal on his first shot of the night as Nico Gonzalez made it 9-1 Buffalo. Regardless, Cyfko looked strong in his limited action that saw the Jr. Sabres almost hit fifty shots.
Ross Sloan made Oakville's tough night just a little more bearable when he connected on a great pass in front by Kamil Tkaczuk, making the score 9-2. The goal held very little in terms of impact on the outcome of the game as Buffalo skated to their league leading eleventh win of the season.
Oakville will take on the Toronto Jr. Canadiens on Sunday for their second meeting of the season at Chesswood Arena at 7:30pm. For fans not able to make the trip out to Toronto, Oakville's next home game will be against the Whitby Fury on November 1st, when the two teams take to the ice for their first meeting of the season. We hope to see you there!