LEAMINGTON EVENS SERIES WITH NATIONALS
The Leamington Flyers didn’t let a late goal loss in the opening game of the Western Conference final linger into Game 2.
They came back with a strong game in Leamington Thursday to defeat the London Nationals 2-0 and tie the best-of-seven Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League best-of-seven Western Conference final 1-1.
“We knew going into the rink they’d be ready after (Wednesday night) and we let them get the jump on them and had to play catch-up,” said Nationals’ coach Pat Powers.
In Game 1 the Nationals got a goal on a controversial power play in the last minute to come away with a win.
Thursday the Flyers got a goal from Broden Meloche 13:33 into the first period to take a 1-0 and rode that goal until Brett Vorshuk scored at 13:33 of the third period.
The Flyers changed goaltenders and went with Noah Hedrick in Game 2. He made 32 saves in recording the shutout.
“They played very well defensively and I thought they changed goaltenders and Hedrick made some really big saves for them in net,” Powers said. “We hit a couple of posts late in the game. We could have had a couple of goals but didn’t. That’s just the way it shakes out.”
The Flyers were also solid with their special team play. The Nationals have been deadly all year on their power play but the Flyers killed all five penalties on the night.
The Flyers also played a more physical game.
“They are an extremely well-coached team that takes a lot of pride in the effort they exert on every single shift on the defensive side of the puck,” Powers said. “They know to be successful they have to shut us down on the puck and that’s what they did.”
Powers would like his team to be a little stronger on the puck in their next game.
“We just have to fight through the physicality they brought (Thursday,)” he said. “We have to move the puck a little bit quicker through the neutral zone and get possession a little bit sooner in their zone. We were a little bit off in our offensive attacks (Thursday.)”
Game 3 in the series is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Western Fair Sports Centre.
By Morris Dalla Costa, The London Free Press
