The Oakville Blades and Buffalo Jr. Sabres played an entertaining contest at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex on Friday, December 2, 2016 with the Blades taking a 3-2 victory thanks to a last-minute goal by Jack Jeffers.
Despite the Blades dominating Buffalo in their last meeting, an 8-2 win in November, the Sabres were the first on the scoreboard. Christian DiFelice helped his team out by shooting the puck on net, getting stopped by Chris Elliot. The puck would unfortunately ride up Elliot’s body and back into the crease, where Michael Faliero was there to tap it in for the 1-0 goal.
The Blades had most of the good opportunities in the second, especially during a nine-minute power play, which saw a five-on-three opportunity in the final five minutes of the middle frame. With 3:57 left in the second, Jack Jeffers sent the puck out to Christian Rajic who was manning the point. Rajic’s shot blistered past Tucker Weppner and in to tie the game up at one. The Blades were finally showing momentum in the a game .
The Blades had a power play chance at the start of the third period, but Buffalo found a way to score shorthanded. Matthew Buchbinder kept the play alive by sending a backhander out to centre ice. From there, Ryan Cox broke in and scored on a breakaway snapshot, breaking the tie to make it 2-1 for the American squad.
The Blades weren’t content with trailing, so they tied it up again. This time, defenceman Nicholas Turenko stole the disk at the blue line and got the puck to Jackson Doherty, who was stopped. Turenko kept with the play and, tipped it in in the crease to make it 2-2 late at the 7:01 mark of the third.
The game look destined for overtime, but with 10.3 seconds left, Jeffers got the job done for Oakville. After having the puck originally stopped, Jeffers rushed into the slot and picked up the loose puck, sending a flying shot past Weppner and in to give Oakville the lead and the 3-2 victory in the process.
The Blades will return to Oakville next Friday, December 9, 2016, when the Mississauga Chargers come to town. Puck drop is at 7:30 PM, hope to see you there!