Flyers playoff run ended by Maroons

By C. Scott Holland

Injuries, unavailable players and a lack of defence were contributing factors for the Leamington Flyers as the Chatham Maroons won the critical game five here on Thursday 5-3 and then ousted the Flyers on Saturday in Chatham by a 5-2 score.

On Wednesday in Chatham, it wasn’t the start the Flyers had hoped for as a penalty and a couple of Chatham shots skipped past starter Boe Piroski and put the Flyers behind the eight ball by the five-minute mark of the first.

Darby Lemieux gave the team some life at 15:56 when he notched a breakaway goal. Later Chatham would add one more for a 3-1 lead before Gabe Piccolo fired a goal at 17:51 of the third to close the gap.

During the final minutes, the Flyers lifted Ryan Polidori for an extra attacker. Polidori replaced Piroski at the start of the second and stopped 24 shots.

Chatham notched an empty-net goal for the insurance tally in the final minute.

There was plenty of action around Chatham goalie Nolan DeKoning in last Thursday night’s game 5 of the West Conference finals. Flyers’ Wyatt O’Neil (90), Andrew Uturo (7) and Darby Lemieux (17 buzz around the Maroons’ net. The Flyers lost the game 5-3 and fell behind 3-2 in the series on that loss, eventually bowing out in six games.

Scott Holland photo

On Thursday, with a crowd of 1,085 on hand, the opening period was a battle between both teams.

Chatham opened the scoring at 9:05 on a powerplay when Noah Szabo scored on a rebound. Four minutes later, the Flyers replied as Jack Cotter and Seth Martineau hooked up with Gabe Piccolo, who caught Chatham starter Nolan DeKoning down.

A critical penalty to the Flyers at 3:24 gave the Maroons a four-minute powerplay and once again Szabo reaped a powerplay tally. At 14:42, Maroon forward Lucas Fancy went in close and backhanded the puck past Polidori to make it a 3-1 contest.

On the heels of Fancy’s work, Matthew Cunningham pounced on a rebound and scored to give Chatham a convincing 4-1 lead. However, before the period ended, Gavin Grundner and Connor MacPherson initiated a scramble around the Chatham net and Ryan MacPherson flicked the Flyers’ second goal to halve the score.

In the third, Szabo collected his hattrick tally at 4:44. Showing a bit of energy and life, the Flyers’ Ryan Clark and Gabe Piccolo set up Jason Daraiche’s goal from the left faceoff circle at 15:52 to narrow the gap and give the Flyers a shot at another comeback.

Even with goalie Polidori pulled for the final two minutes, the Flyers couldn’t get any closer. Chatham’s victory left the Flyers without home ice advantage and needing to win the next two games.

Game six held on Saturday in Chatham began the same way the last couple of contests have - with the Flyers surrendering a few early goals to fall behind.

Chatham won the game 5-2 and the series 4-2. It was a rather abrupt ending to the Flyers 2021-22 playoff season and one in which they fell short of their goal. Chatham pounced on the Flyers early and built a 3-0 lead before the end of the first.

Gavin Grundner put the Flyers on the board at 3:31 of the second. The Flyers tried to mount a comeback but Chatham made it 4-1 going into the third.

Gabe Piccolo went on an end-to-end rush midway through the third and tabbed a shorthanded marker. Ryan Polidori sopped 33 shots and was lifted for an extra attacker with just over two minutes left and the Flyers down 4-2. The Maroons added an empty-netter to seal the victory.

On behalf of the Flyers, many thanks are extended to the fans and sponsors plus the hard work of management, coaches, players and behind-thescenes volunteers who helped make every game possible.