Jr. Sabres Win Two, Lose One
(File photo courtesy of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres)
The Buffalo Jr. Sabres went 2-1 this past weekend and are tied for first place in the OJHL, with a game against Mississauga on the horizon for this evening.
The weekend began with a Friday evening match-up against St. Michaels. The Buzzers took an early lead just 1:48 into action and held onto the lead until nearly halfway through the second period.
That’s when Jr. Sabres defenseman Dylan Howatt scored his second goal of the season to tie the game at one. Pat Egan and Mike Mikowski notched assists on the goal.
Stephen Pietrobon would go on to score for the Buzzers less than two minutes into the third period to regain the lead, and the team would hold on until there were about eight minutes remaining in regulation time.
The Jr. Sabres went on to score two goals in 1:35 to first tie the game, then take their first lead of the evening. The come-from-behind movement was lead by a goal by Pat Egan, his ninth of the season, and followed up by the go-ahead goal by Tyler Gjurich.
The goal was Gjurich’s team-best 12th of the season, and he was named first star of the game. Buffalo goaltender Parker Gahagen, with 32 saves, was awarded second star, and Buzzers goaltender Adrian Ignagni – who also had 32 saves – got third star.
Coming off the win, Buffalo traveled to visit the Toronto Jr. Canadiens on Saturday evening, and the Jr. Sabres came out charging.
Although it took a little bit of time to get things going, Buffalo scored the first four goals of the game to take a commanding lead.
Max Mikowski opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the season on the power play at 17:27 of the first period before adding another goal just 36 seconds into the second period to make the score 2-0 Buffalo.
Less than three minutes later, Jason Heerdt notched his first goal of the season in just his second game. Finally, Ryall Ledyard scored at the 10:56 mark of the second period to make it 4-0.
A goal by Andrew Mullen midway through the third period would provide a spark for the Jr. Canadiens, but it never caught on and Buffalo won 4-1 for their second win in as many nights.
Pat Egan had two assists and Bobby Bloomfield had 32 saves in the win. Mikowski was named first star, while Bloomfield got second star and Toronto’s Dalton Hnatko was third star.
In the final game of the weekend, Buffalo hosted the Georgetown Raiders in a Sunday evening contest.
Raiders captain Brendan Woods opened the scoring at 15:42 of the second period, making it 1-0 Georgetown. Less than two minutes later, Georgetown struck again on a goal by Anthony Marra.
Less than four minutes into the third period, Woods scored yet again to make it 3-0 Georgetown. Buffalo’s Nolan Sheeran scored his sixth goal of the season to erase the shutout, but the Jr. Sabres couldn’t make the comeback.
The Raiders scored once more, a goal by Nicholas Dozzi at 19:38 to make it 4-1, and sealed the win.
Despite the loss, the Jr. Sabres are still tied for first place in the league with 29 points and a 13-0-1-0-1-7 record. The team will play its fourth game in five days tonight as the Mississauga Chargers come to town.
The Chargers currently hold the last position in the south division, with 12 points in 17 games. The team last played Saturday, a 7-4 loss to North York.