The Oakville Blades had a fantastic showing against their divisional rivals from North York, grabbing the 5-2 victory and securing home advantage for the first round of the playoffs at the same time.
The Blades had as good of a second period as any team possibly could. The first goal of the match came just 4:47 into the game. Greg Campbell’s wrister from the left face-off dot found its way to Josh Kosack. Kosack jammed the puck home finding the crease for the power-play goal.
Two minutes later, Ryan Garvey was able to pot a beautiful wrist shot despite being down a man. The Blades were able to skate in with a 3-on-2 rush after a mistake by Matthew Whittaker in Oakville's zone. After a nifty pass from Jackson Bales, Garvey spun around and absolutely sniped the puck past Gianluca Baggetta for a fantastic goal.
Oakville’s onslaught continued with what could be considered the highlight of the night. With nine minutes left in the opening frame, Tyler Burns drove a pass to his brother Ryan. Ryan skated down the ice alone, deked Baggetta out of his crease, and then roofed it making it 3-0 for Oakville.
Oakville Blades Brendan McGlynn’s shutout would come to a close with 12:05 off the clock. After North York Ranger Will Rielly failed to get the puck past McGlynn on the original shot, Jake Harris got ahold of the rebound and made no mistakes. Harris cut Oakville’s lead to two goals. Oakville would regain their three goal advantage before it was all said and done. Kosack scored a goal almost identical to the one early in the period. It gave the Blades the 4-1 lead as they headed into the dressing room.
With about eight minutes remaining in the second, Red Hot Ryan Burns struck once again. This time, Brandon Hughes was unable to put it in after a wrap around attempt. Burns was right there to pick up the rebound and fire it home for the 5-1 lead. It was Burns’ eighth point in the past six games,which makes it the most points scored by any Blade in that time frame.
Poor ice conditions in the Oakville zone would cost the Blades a goal. A Blades defender was unable to ice the puck out of the zone, which allowed North York sniper Gabe Valenzeula to fire one home for the 5-2 goal. The goal didn’t help the Rangers in terms of momentum. Oakville’s three goal lead would stick until the end of the third, keeping intact Oakville’s perfect record.
The Blades will host their final home game of the season next Friday when the Mississauga Chargers come to town for “Camp Night”. Puck drop is slated for 7:30pm at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, hope to see you there!