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Jr A Flyers leading 2-1 in quarter-final

March 4, 2015   ·   0 Comments

The Orangeville Junior A Flyers took a 2-1 lead over the Oakville Blades in their quarter-final playoff series with a decisive 5-2 game three win in Oakville on Monday (Mar.1).

The series got underway on Friday, February 27, with game one on Blades’ home ice at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.

The Flyers took an early lead in game one on a powerplay effort from Lucas Smilsky at 3:49 into the game and a second goal from Ian Nichols five minutes later.

The Oakeville squad got a single midway through the period.

O-ville’s James McLaughin notched a second Flyers powerplay goal late in the second period.

There was no scoring in the third to end the game a 3-2 for the Flyers to take an early lead in the series.

“We had 12 penalty kills, so they had 12 powerplays. It was one of those nights where they were calling everything,” Said Flyers head coach Jamie Caruso of the opening game of the series on Friday. “We weathered the storm. We had two powerplays and we capitalized on both of them. Considering we have no playoff experience – our guys are going through this for the first time – I was so happy with their effort last night. We talked about it before the series start – this is going to be a long series.”

Returning to Orangeville for game two on Saturday, February 28, the Flyers ran into a tough Oakville defence that kept them to the outside for much of the game.

After playing to a 1-1 tie in the first period, the Oakville squad got the edge with two second period goals.

Two more Blades markers in the third frame left the Flyers scrambling and they couldn’t get back into the game.

The game got rough in the late stages of the third period resulting in ten minutes in minors and three game misconducts for Oakville, and 12 minutes in minors and two game misconducts for the Flyers.

The final was 5-1 for the Blades and the series was tied at one.

The Oakville team came to the series with a slightly better regular season record, 31-23, and 66 points, but still comparable with the Flyers record of 25-29, and 54 points.

Saturday night’s loss tied the series.

The Flyers had a tough time penetrating the Oakville defence and were outshot 46-29 by the Blades.

“We knew they were going to come out hard.” Caruso said. “They (Oakville) were one of the favoured teams before the season started. I think they’re coming into their own right now. They had a lot of powerplays tonight. That’s why the shots were lopsided. We knew going in, this wasn’t going to be a quick four game series. We need to regroup tomorrow.

With a player suspended, Caruso said they need to “change our lines, go into Oakville, and try to win that one.”

The line change didn’t do anything to hurt them, that’s for sure.

They travelled to Oakville on Monday night (Mar. 2) and brought home a 5-2 win to lead the series 2-1.

The Flyers took the lead in the first period on a goal from Ryan DaSilva.

After giving up a second period goal, the Flyers responded with two more from Darren Nesbitt and Kosta Likourezos.

O-ville’s Nesbitt got the go ahead goal at 1:34 into the third period to give the squad a 4-1 lead lead.

Oakville scored at the midway mark to close the gap, but a final Flyers goal on the empty Oakville net ended the game at 5-2.

The teams returned to Orangeville on Wednesday (Mar. 4) for game four of the series with results coming in after press time.

They will be back in Oakville on Friday, March 6, for game five.

If necessary, game six will take place in Orangeville at the Alder Street arena on Saturday, March 7.

Game time is 7:00 pm.

In other series, the Georgetown Raiders were tied at two games with the Buffalo Jr. Sabres.

The Toronto Patriots were leading St. Michaels 2-0.

The Toronto Jr. Canadiens were leading 2-1 over the North York Rangers.

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