Vipers spoil Flyers home opener

By C. Scott Holland

For the first time in two years, the Leamington Jr. B Flyers played a home opener and had a crowd of 265 local fans watching. The youthful Flyers — many of whom were suiting up for regular season action at home — appeared to get better as the contest went on but lost 3-1 to the LaSalle Vipers.

Despite the low score, both teams displayed some heavy bodychecking throughout the contest, but for the Flyers, a two-minute defensive lapse around the 13-minute mark of the opening frame allowed the visiting Vipers to tab all the goals they would need for the victory.

In first 40 minutes Thursday, the Vipers’ offense pounded shot after shot at Flyers’ starter Ryan Polidori.

The Vipers went ahead at 13:16 when Nic Pavia slipped the puck past Polidori on a scramble play. A minute later, Vipers’ forward Kyle Walker was awarded a penalty shot but Polidori shut the door.

The Vipers weren’t done with their sustained attack. A mere 20 seconds later, Viper Brody Gillis unleashed a shot from the left lane that appeared to come on a screen play and the puck sailed high over Polidori’s outstretched glove and into the net.

That unexpected tally was followed by the Vipers’ third marker 18 seconds later when Darby Drouillard whisked the puck into the Flyers’ net.

At that juncture, Flyers’ head coach Dale Mitchell called a time-out to help settle the team. Down 3-0, the Flyers resumed play by bodychecking the Vipers more closely.

Leamington forward Wyatt O’Neil (90) chases the puck in the LaSalle zone as teammates Darby Lemieux (17) and Ryan Blackburn eye the puck carrier, LaSalle forward Patrick McManus. The Flyers lost 3-1 to the Vipers in this year’s home opener.

SUN photo

Neither team scored in the second, although each side had one powerplay opportunity. The tension between the two combatants increased and elevated in the third stanza.

The Flyers controlled the puck and play much better in the third, outshooting the Vipers 14-5. Leamington got the break they were looking for at 3:31 when Koen Taves and Darby Lemieux hooked passes to Andrew Uturo, who slammed a rising shot past Viper goalie Matthew Tovell.

The Flyers had a power play chance near the period’s midway point but could not draw closer.

During the final minute of play, the Flyers lifted Polidori for an extra attacker but the Vipers held off any damage and took the 3-1 win.

Head coach Dale Mitchell wasn’t at the game but watched it on Hockey TV.

“We came out slow and were not ready for the puck drop. It’s tough when you are down 3-0 after the first, he said. “We were lucky it wasn’t any worse, yet the team responded and played better in the second and third. We need a full 60-minute effort to have success.”

Despite the loss at home, the team rebounded on Saturday night when they visited the Strathroy Rockets and built a 4-0 lead before surrendering a power play goal which allowed Strathroy to break Boe Piroski’s shutout bid.

The Flyers’ victory came courtesy of the superb marksmanship of rookie Gavin Grundner, who tabbed his first Jr. B goal and his first hattrick. Andrew Uturo opened the scoring at 6:23 of the first and Grundner drilled two shots past Strathroy goalie Matthew Brazeau at 15:25 and 18:35 of the second. Grundner unleashed a bullet at 4:23 of the third which froze Brazeau and made it a 4-0 contest.

At 16:33, Wyatt O’Neil was penalized for tripping.

With about 20 seconds remaining in the penalty kill, Colton O’Brien got a double minor for the same infraction and then received an unsportsmanlike penalty.

With the Rockets on a five-on-three power play, Riley Wood tabbed a goal that ended Piroski’s shutout bid.

Piroski halted 33 of 34 shots, while Brazeau stopped 16 of 20.

The Flyers host London Thursday at 7:10 pm.