Flyers jump back into first place with three wins

By C. Scott Holland

The largest crowd this season (710) at the Highbury Canco arena witnessed a very exciting contest as the Flyers hosted the St. Marys Lincolns last Thursday night and beat them 4-1.

On the heels of that, they topped the St. Thomas Stars 7-4 Friday night then blanked the Komoka Kings 3-0 on Saturday.

The three wins put them in first place, three points over London and four ahead of Chatham. Both the Nats and Flyers have six contests left. Chatham has three.

On Thursday, the final score was not indicative of how really close the game was. Over the course of 35 minutes, it was a one-goal contest then knotted for another five .

But before the third period was one minute old, the Flyers broke the deadlock and took a 2-1 lead and that slim edge held up until the final two minutes when they tabbed two empty-net goals. The victory vaulted the Flyers back into the top spot in the west.

The contest wasn’t even 60 seconds old when its intensity became apparent. Lincs player Ethan Coups slammed a Flyers player hard into the boards in front of the Flyers’ bench. Coups was given a five-minute check-from-behind major.

But as that happened, Nolan McKibbin crosschecked a player in front of the Lincs bench and the tone was set.

At 6:16 the Lincolns got on the board first when Thomas Harbour rifled a shot past Flyers’ starter Ryan Polidori for a 1-0 lead. That lead held up until early in third, despite the Flyers putting 16 shots on Lincs’ starter Bryce Walcarius in the opening frame.

Penalties were few and far between in the second and third periods, and the game turned into a back-and-forth battle. The Flyers got the break they needed at 16:01 of the second when Seth Martineau went into the Lincs’ zone, weaved deftly around the defense and was alone against Walcarius. He deked the goalie then shoveled a shot into the net to knot the score at 1-1. Wyatt O’Neil and Andrew Uturo laid the groundwork for the Martineau tally.

Flyers’ forward Connor MacPherson (25) has just snapped a shot that has zipped between the legs of St. Marys goalie Bryce Walcarius, who is looking down for a puck that is not there.

Scott Holland photo

Only 55 seconds had elapsed in the third when Colton O’Brien hooked a pass to Connor MacPherson who rifled a left wing shot through Walcarius’ five-hole. Holding a 2-1 lead, the Flyers’ defense and Polidori closed the door the rest of the way on the Lincolns.

At 19:07 Polidori fed Koen Taves, and Taves got the puck to Connor MacPherson who found the empty net. After the faceoff and a couple of tries by St. Marys to enter the Flyers’ zone, Polidori and Martineau hooked up with Blake McNally who skated down the ice and deposited the puck into the vacated net to make it a 4-1 final.

“It was a slow start both nights, but the players responded well after being down in both matches,” said head coach Dale Mitchell. “We need to find a way to get going once the puck drops and not put ourselves behind.”

He added, “On the other hand, the guys have been playing well during this long month of games. We just have to keep the momentum going.”

On Friday night the Flyers topped the St. Thomas Stars 7-4 as six different Flyers scored. They took an early 5-1 lead as Flyers goalie Boe Piroski halted 36 of 40 shots. Scoring for the Flyers were Andrew Uturo with a pair (his 19th and 20th of the season), Gavin Grundner (26th), Connor McCracken, Ryan MacPherson, Jason Daraiche and Wes O’Neil.

To finish the threein-three run, the Flyers blanked Komoka 3-0. Ryan Polidori earned the 3-0 shutout by stopping all 24 Kings’ shots in a contest which the Flyers controlled throughout. It was knotted 0-0 after one period but Andrew Uturo scored at 3:18 of the second to give the Flyers a lead they would not surrender. At 7:45 of the third, Ryan MacPherson slotted a short-handed tally for a 2-0 edge. Gabe Piccolo fired an empty-net goal in the final minute after the Kings had lifted Owen Hage for an extra attacker.

Flyers’ Schedule: Thurs. March 24 versus Chatham Maroons at 7:10 p.m.