Photo by Paul Mauceri / OJHL Images

The team made the 30 minute trip north to Etobicoke to match up against the Toronto Patriots this past Tuesday. It was the only game the two teams will play each other in all year as it was an inter-conference matchup. Hockey is a team sport, and although the final score was close, it was really two players that stood out for the Blades and got them to find the level of success they were able to throughout the first two periods. Those two players are Sam Edmands and Luke Johnston, with Edmands making a plethora of great saves and Johnston tallying two goals, the only two the Blades would score on the afternoon. These two had truly great games and Edmands’ save percentage of .923 doesn’t even do justice to his performance in the crease. 

The game started with Oakville getting into the offensive zone and Johnston putting one home only a minute into this game off of a nice shot in the high slot area. Assists for the goal went to Crisp and Lukey as that line finally cashes in on the hard work they’ve been doing since they’ve been put together just two games before this. Another nice play from Johnston came later in the period when he positioned himself very well after a lost draw in the opposing end and intercepted the puck. He was right in front of the net and made no error when picking his spot to shoot it past the goalie. The Blades were off to a great start and were up 2-0 over a Patriots team that had gotten many shots on net but had them all turned away by Edmands.

Minutes 20-40 did not see a ton of action. Shots were down from the first period for both sides, although Toronto did produce more high danger chances against Edmands than they did in the first, and a grand total of 0 goals were scored. It was a period for both goalies to show us what they had and they both shut the door. As a positive for the Blades, because neither side scored, the score was still 2-0 Oakville.

The Patriots came out very strong in the final frame. Edmands kept his composure but was being hammered with shots left and right, until finally, the Patriots got the bounce they were looking for just 4 minutes in. A single goal deficit is much easier to escape, and that’s exactly what the Patriots did just 4 minutes later. Now we had a 2-2 hockey game on our hands and things were not looking up for the Blades. The game got really aggressive and both sides got some penalties as the game was approaching the end of the 3rd period. The tie breaking goal was scored with only 3 minutes left in the game, by the Toronto Patriots. It would end up as the game winning goal and the Patriots take the victory in the only meeting between these two teams this year. 

The blame for this loss can not be placed on Edmands, he was phenomenal for the majority of the game and it would likely have been a much different game had he not made some of the saves he did. Also, it was only his second start of the year, but he is likely to get more after his performance at the Westwood Arena. Full boxscore here: http://oakvilleblades_ojhl.wttstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=3602865

Now that this away game has been played, the Blades return to another 4 game home stand that they start against the Aurora Tigers on Friday the 18th of November. It will be the Gift of Giving Back game, so make sure that you bring non-perishable food items to help our youth athletes feed the Oakville community. More information can be found on our home page.