The Oakville Blades had a nice comeback going, but still lost to the Burlington Cougars 5-4 on Friday night.
Despite a strong start by the Blades, the Burlington Cougars would find the net first. At 7:35 on the power play, defenseman Matt Watson’s shot soared from the blue line and beat Brendan McGlynn’s glove hand, giving the visiting team in their new uniforms the 1-0 lead early in the contest.
With 5:45 left in the opening frame, the Blades scored their first goal of 2017 when Bryce Misley took a feed from beside the net from Ryan Foss, the new leading scorer on Oakville. He fired a nice wrist shot from the slot, beating goalie Mario Cavaliere to tie it up at one goal apiece after 20 minutes of play.
Scoring on the power play seemed to be a trend on Friday and that continued when the Cougars took the 2-1 lead midway through the second. With Jeff Clarke in the box for Oakville, defenseman Max Balinson put Burlington back in the lead after scoring from the point.
Just under two minutes the Cougars scored again. This time, 1999-born Josh Cammalleri took a pass in front and tapped home a shot after exposing a hole in the Oakville defense, giving Burlington the two-goal advantage with half the game left to play.
The Blades may have been down, but certainly not out. At 5:47, Drew Worrad used slick stick work to move the puck through the legs of two defenders before backhanding it past Cavaliere, a goal that would see Oakville behind by just one goal.
With 11:23 left in the game, Nicholas Turenko knotted the game at three. Thanks to a screen in front, the stay-at-home defender was able to send the flying disk up high over Cavaliere and in the net to tie the game up at three in what was truly an exciting contest.
With just under seven minutes left in the game, the Blades took the lead for the first time in the game. Bailey Newton’s shot wasn’t going to hit the net, but Foss got his team-leading 44th point with the tip in at the side to make it 4-3 Blades.
But on the Cougars power play, just over a minute later, the visitors tied it back up. This time, Watson was able to score his second of the night with a wrist shot from far out, beating McGlynn to restore the tie.
60 minutes couldn’t decide the game so the contest needed overtime. Unfortunately for the home squad, it wasn’t what they were looking for. At 3:04, NHL Draft prospect Philip Lagunov beat McGlynn with a hard wrist shot from the high slot, putting the game to rest and giving Burlington the 5-4 win in the process.
Despite the loss, Oakville still remains at the top of the South Division with 49 points, seven more than the St. Michael’s Buzzers. The team sits third overall in the Southwest division, with only Georgetown and Burlington ahead.
The Blades have one more home game in January, a 7:30 PM start against the North York Rangers next Friday. Hope to see you at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex!