Oakville's win streak hit the five game mark on Saturday night, taking home the 7-1 victory over the Lindsay Muskies in the second of a three game weekend for the Blades.
The first period didn't need a ton of scoring chances to create an interesting frame of hockey. In fact, only nine shots combined made it on net before Oakville's first goal of the game came at at the 12 minute mark. Whenever a clutch goal is needed, captain Ryan Garvey seems to be involved. That was no different on Saturday night, with Garvey coming down all alone on the penalty kill before sending it five-hole on Graham Dynes, good enough to secure the early 1-0 lead.
The last time the two teams met, Lindsay and Oakville combined for three fights late in the game. Tonight, it didn't take long for the two teams to get angry at each other, and Oliver Benwell ended up getting the best of Brandon Washer in his second fight in two games, that gave a bit of a jolt to his club.
It clearly worked for Oakville. With 3:24 left in the first, almost a whole two minutes after, Christian Rajic did some great board work behind the Muskies net before skating in front and firing it top corner, giving him his 17th point of the season while helping double up Oakville's lead.
With just under two minutes completed in the second, the Blades found themselves back on the scoreboard. This time, Jackson Bales was rewarded after solid passing between Garvey and Josh Kosack, beating Dynes glove side for the 3-0 goal.
Kudla stole the OJHL headlines over the past week. Heading into the game with 19 points, Kudla finished last night's 7-3 victory over St. Mike's with a five point performance. So, of course, the second top scorer in the league wasn't going to be left without a point in the second; after taking a pass from fellow scoring dynamo Rajic, the former forward fired a wicked slap shot from the point to make it 4-0 Oakville.
With just over three minutes left in the period, the Muskies finally found themselves on the board. With Brendan Doherty serving a slashing minor, Cameron Harris scored a solid goal after spinning around in front of the net. Rajic wasn't a fan of that, deciding to score his second goal of the night to give the Blades the 5-1 lead heading into the third period.
The third period was yet another good example of Oakville's strength on Saturday. Rajic would once again find himself on the score-sheet, passing it to Tyler Rollo on the doorstep before he himself sent it to Kosack at the other side of the crease, increasing Oakville's lead to 6-1. Bryce Misley would score before things came to a close in a game that ended up getting chippy near the end, good enough to help Oakville finish with the 7-1 victory on Saturday.
With the win, the Blades will look to sweep the 3-in-3 weekend with a game against the Toronto Jr. Canadiens, an 8:00pm start at the Scotiabank Pond in Toronto. The Blades will then return to Sixteen Mile on Friday, October 16th for their annual food drive game. Hope to see you there!