NEWS

It was not a perfect Game 1 for the Toronto Patriots, but it was pretty close to it.

The Ontario Junior Hockey League’s first and third-leading regular-season scorers Andrew Petrucci and Dante Spagnuolo, respectively, did not miss a beat with two goals apiece, while four other Pats had multi-assist nights as Toronto cruised past the Orangeville Flyers 7-1 in Game 1 of the post-season Thursday.

An impressive 14 Pats found the scoresheet, and for Captain Petrucci, other than getting the win, the fact that everyone was involved, was the highlight of the night.

“Balance is really important to us,” said the OJHL’s only 100-point man.

“All four of our lines have been consistent all year, and getting Routledge, and Petric up front in trades earlier this year, really helps. It’s great to see all our lines contributing, not just the top two lines, and we’re going to need everybody doing that, and whether it’s putting up points or doing the little things all over the ice, and they all have been. Everybody contributed tonight, and now it’s all about Game 2 for us.”

Petrucci’s wicked backhand over the right arm of Orangeville net minder Eric Doner 6:16 into the contest got the Pats out on the right foot. Then, after Ryan Magee got one back for the Flyers 1:10 into the second period, Adam Petric jammed in the eventual game winner by chipping in a funny bounce off the end boards, from three feet in front of the Orangeville net, at 2:40 of the middle frame.

The captain tapped in from the side of the net 29 seconds later before veteran defenceman Graeme MacLean turned the contest into a rout with 1:07 remaining in the period, snapping home a great cross-seam feed from Lee Lapid.

Spagnuolo’s third-period deuce preceded a beautifully worked 5-on-3, cross-ice one-time finish by Jackson Alexeev to finish off the scoring at 17:36 of the final frame.

Despite all the scoring though, the Flyers had plenty of chances to make it a close game throughout, but Tyler Fassl, who finished the regular season with the second most victories in Canadian Junior A hockey, shut the door repeatedly, making 30-often-difficult stops.

“The way Fassl played was a huge confidence boost for us,” said Petrucci.

“Tyler really showed his character tonight. Some goalies will kind of pack it in mentally when it’s 5 or 6-1 for your team, but he didn’t at any point. He made some great saves for us. That game could have been 7-4, 7-5 if he isn’t huge for us, he played 60 minutes for us, and we know he’ll keep doing that moving forward. All of us believe in him and he is a great goalie.”

The series now shifts back to Orangeville for Game 2 on Saturday, with puck drop set for 7:00 PM at Alder Street Arena. - Jamie Neugebauer