The Oakville Blades won two of three games in a gruesome week, where they played three games in three days.
November 25, 2021. Oakville Blades @ Brantford 99ers
On Thursday, Oakville started their first of three straight games against the Brantford 99ers.
The Blades looked to keep their play up from their last game, where they beat a very good Aurora team 5-4 in regulation.
The first period started, and Oakville opened up the scoring with a goal from Parker Murray, assisted by Brendan Bowie and Evan Pringle, to give Oakville a 1-0 lead.
Oakville extended their lead with a goal by new addition Adam Tucci, assisted by Parker Murray and Brenden Bowie, giving Tucci his first goal as a Blade and giving the team a comfortable 2-0 lead as they headed into the first intermission.
The second period saw no scoring for the first 15 minutes but saw chances going back and forth for both teams.
The blades were able to find the back of the net with around four minutes left in the period with a goal by Joshua Kudo assisted by Chase Strychaluk and Zach Wigle extended Oakville's lead to 3-0.
Both teams headed to the locker room for the second intermission, with Oakville having a commanding 3-0 lead.
The third period opened, and Brantford found a way to storm back into the game.
Twenty seconds into the third, Easton Wainright scored, assisted by Ryan Vannetten and Kris Fugalis, to cut the lead to 3-1 Oakville.
One minute and nine seconds later, Ethan Klemen scored, assisted by Brendan Anderson and Lucas Thompson to make the score 3-2 Oakville.
It was a very tough start to the period for the Blades, but the team still has the lead. In this case, the Blades were looking to shut down the 99ers offence and grind out a gritty win.
Fortunately, the blades did just that. Oakville played tight defensive hockey, suppressed the 99ers offence, and won the game 3-2.
November 26, 2021. Brantford 99ers @ Oakville Blades
The second half of Oakville's home-in-home series with Brantford saw both teams travel to Sixteen-Mile Creek Arena to finish a mini two-game series.
Some changes were made in the Oakville lineup as Tristan Malboeuf started in goal for the Blades giving Cole DeFazio the backup role for the night.
The game didn't start well for Oakville as Jaden Lee opened up the scoring for the 99ers, assisted by Kurt Watson, giving Brantford a 1-0 lead.
Oakville tied the game with a goal on the powerplay by Adam Tucci assisted by Zach Wigle, making the game 1-1.
That tie game was short-lived as Lucas Thompson scored a powerplay goal of his own, assisted by Jack Robertson and Adrian Rebelo to make the score 2-1 Brantford.
Oakville took another penalty giving Brantford the man advantage.
Brantford converted on the powerplay again with a goal by Ethan Klemen assisted by Ryan Vannetten, giving Brantford a 3-1 lead. That was the end of Tristan Malboeuf's night as he was pulled and replaced by Cole DeFazio for the rest of the night.
No more goals were scored in the first period, and both teams headed into the first intermission with a 3-1 Brantford lead.
After a shaky period, Oakville looked to bounce back by scoring a goal to get back into the game.
99ers' Kurt Watson put that plan on hold after scoring 29 seconds into the second period making the score 4-1 Brantford.
The 99ers shut down the Blades' offence for the rest of the period, and the second period ended with a 4-1 99ers lead.
The third period saw more of the same as the 99ers shut down Oakville's play and made it extremely hard for them to score goals.
Oakville got one goal late in the period with a goal by Adam Tucci assisted by Brendan Bowie, making the score 4-2 99ers.
That is as close as the blades would get as Easton Wainright scored into the empty net, making the score 5-2, and that would be your final from the game.
At the end of the game, Brendan Bowie commented on the game and the Blades' lack of scoring by saying, "We had 21 more shots than they did; we had 45 shots, so we also need to bury those chances."
On the topic of outshooting opponents, the blades have had many games where they have outshot opponents by a wide margin and still haven't been able to win.
Bowie commented on that saying, "I think when we shoot from the point, we need to get to the net a little bit more; and when we are at the net, we need to hit the net; There are some times when there are two or three guys in front of the net, and we shoot it into the corner, and the other team picks it up and goes the other way, and there are times when we have breakaways or two on one opportunity's, and we try to make the too cute play."
November 27, 2021. Markham Royals @ Oakville Blades
After a subpar performance against Brantford, Oakville looked to bounce back at Saturday's game against the Markham Royals.
Markham would also be without team captain Shane Hyman, who was serving a one-game suspension for fighting in Markham's last game.
The opening 10 minutes saw no scoring but saw chances going back and forth for both teams.
Markham took a penalty near the end of the first period, and Oakville looked to take advantage.
Oakville used the extra man to open the scoring with a goal by Evan Pringle, assisted by Michael Tiveron and Owen Wilson, to make the game 1-0 blades.
The first period ended shortly after that goal, but with less than a minute left, Oakville's Evan Pringle took an interference penalty that carried over into the second period.
Markham took advantage of the early powerplay with a goal by Ethan Grant assisted by Luca Fasciano and Matthew Minichiello to make the score 1-1.
Oakville took the lead back with another goal by Evan Pringle, assisted by Owen Wilson and Josh Kudo, making the score 2-1.
Josh Kudo got a powerplay goal of his own, assisted by Micheal Tiveron and Zach Wigle, extending Oakville's lead to 3-1.
Before the period ended, Brendan Bowie scored off of a great pass by Michael Tiveron and a secondary assist by Evan Pringle to give Oakville a 4-1 lead.
Near the end of the period, Oakville's Mason Zibeski was hit hard into the boards, and the team took exception to that, and a brawl ensued near centre ice.
When the dust settled, Oakville's Matthew Wang and Cole Weiger were ejected for fighting and Markham's Calum Haslam.
Since fighting is a one-game suspension in the OJHL, all three of those players will miss their next game.
Markham was also given a powerplay due to the scrum, and the penalty carried over into the third period.
Oakville killed off the penalty and began to shut down Markham's offence for the majority of the third period.
Markham scored to make the game 4-2 with a goal by Kevin Martin assisted by Matthew Minichiello.
Then 36 seconds later, Markham scored again to bring them within one with a goal by Colton Krezeminski assisted by Khaden Henry, making the score 4-3 Blades.
Fortunately for the Blades, they were able to waste precious time, and Ethan Sullivan scored the empty netter assisted by Jack Blake to secure a 5-3 blades victory.
After the game, Evan Pringle commented on how the team could bounce back from a rough game against Brantford.
He said, "We had a bit of a team meeting in between games; Coach Sloan knows what he's talking about, so we just stuck our gameplan, we played as a team, and we came out with the win."
Pringle commented on his success, saying, "I used what I was given. I play with great linemates, and they seemed to find me on the ice."
After Saturday's game, Oakville now has a 13-9-0-1 record, totalling 27 points. One point behind Georgetown for second in the West Division and five points behind Burlington for first.
Oakville looks to go for two straight wins as they play in Milton on Tuesday.