Jr. Sabres Edge Toronto, 4-3
(Photo: Ken Czworka)
After a week lapse between games, the Buffalo Jr. Sabres narrowly edged the Toronto Jr. A Canadiens by a score of 4-3 on February 12 in OJHL action.
Nine players had at least a point for the Jr. Sabres in the victory, with a trio of Buffalo skaters tallying a pair of points each. OJHL leading scorer Tyler Gjurich led the team with two goals, Ryan Schmelzer had a pair of assists and Pat Egan had a goal and an assist in the win.
Prior to the game, Schmelzer received an award honoring him as CJHL 1st Star of the Month for January. He scored eight goals and nine assists for 17 points in just seven games played.
Toronto opened the scoring nearly midway through the first period, as Danny Liscio scored his eighteenth goal of the season to give the Jr. Canadiens a 1-0 lead.
The score would remain that way for the rest of the first period and half of the second, until Gjurich tallied his 47th goal of the season to tie it up.
Teams exchanged goals for the remainder of the second period, scoring a combined three goals in just under three minutes. Toronto’s Jordan Carvalho regained the team lead just over two minutes after Gjurich’s goal, before Sean Federow tied the game again 1:59 later.
Finally, Robert Cammalleri scored 45 seconds after Federow to once again put the Jr. Canadiens in the lead.
The third period, however, belonged to Buffalo. Pat Egan scored on the power play to tie the game again, before Gjurich added his second goal of the night at the 11:26 mark to give Buffalo the edge – and eventually, the win.
Buffalo netminder Parker Gahagen stopped 19 of 22 shots faced, while Denny Dubblestyne allowed four goals on 29 shots. The Jr. Sabres were 2-for-3 on the power play, while the Jr. Canadiens failed to score on their one advantage.
With the win, the Jr. Sabres regained the lead in the West Division and now hold a one-point edge over Georgetown. The team is two points shy of Trenton for the first overall spot in the OJHL.
The Jr. Sabres have five games remaining on their schedule, beginning a three-in-three stretch this coming weekend. They’ll travel to St. Michaels on Friday and visit Oakville on Saturday before hosting Mississauga on Sunday.