The Major Bantam Lakers travelled to Kitchener on Monday night to play the Rangers for the first time this season. The Rangers were coming off a 3-0 win over Lambton and were undefeated in three October regular season games so expectations were that this tilt would be a good contest for the East Division leading Lakers.
The first period began with the Lakers giving up a goal in the first two minutes to fall behind early. Shortly thereafter, however, the Rangers took a penalty to put the Lakers on the power play. Although the Lakers' power play is generally one of their strengths one would not have known it looking at how the two minutes went. The Lakers gave up no less than 2 short-handed breakaways. Fortunately, the Lakers’ goalie,
Cole Wardlaw, was up to the task and turned aside the Rangers on both occasions. Although still very early in the game, this would prove to be the turning point as the Lakers’ play improved from that point on throughout the remainder of the period. Finally, with 5:31 to go in the first and deep in their own end,
Kyle Sippel passed the puck across behind the net to his defensive partner,
Carter Simpson, who cleared the puck out high along the boards into the centre ice area where a streaking
Nick Castell picked it up and burst in on the left wing. Castell fired the puck into the far top corner off the inside of the iron to tie the score (see video below).
The Lakers took the lead with a power play goal in the last minutes of the period on play that started when PJ Conlon passed the puck back to Jacob Middleton in the high slot. Middleton fired the puck in on net where Jayden Landry was waiting to pounce and pound the puck in (see video below).
The Lakers opened the second period with a 2-1 lead and quickly built on it thanks to another Rangers’ penalty in the first minute of the period. This time it was Brett Stacey and Devin Williams teaming up when Stacey kept the puck in at the blueline and fired a shot on net that Williams was able to put around the diving Rangers’ goalie to establish the 3-1 lead (see video below).
The Lakers then took penalties of their own five minutes into the period and again at the halfway point but were able to successfully kill them off. Shortly after the second penalty ended the Lakers widened their lead to 4-1 when Mac MacSorley took a tape-to-tape pass from Landry, carried the puck into the Rangers’ end, and blasted home a slapshot into the top far corner; second assist to Mackinley O’Keefe (see video below).
Two minutes later the Lakers would get their third power play goal of the game when Castell would tip in a Braydon Blight wrist shot (see video below).
Then with just 12 seconds left in the period, MacSorley would put the Lakers up 6-1 when, after an aggressive forecheck by Michael Siddall freed up the puck and Conlon carried it to the front of the net before falling off balance, MacSorley was right there on the left wing to flip the puck into the top of net and send the goalie’s water bottle into the air (see video below).
Ahead 6-1 going into the final period the Lakers played a controlled, shut down game in the third that saw them limit the Rangers shots to just 3 for the entire period. The Lakers would add one more to their goal total when Middleton would take the puck deep into the corner and then, after firing it past a Rangers’ player onto the net from behind the icing line, would see it go in for a goal, assist to Landry (see video below).
Middleton was playing in his first game as an AP called up from the Lakers Minor Bantam team and had a good outing that saw him working well with his defensive partners and other team-mates.
Jayden Landry led the points parade in this game with three (a goal and two assists) as eleven different Lakers added to their point totals. When the game ended the Lakers had notched seven consecutive goals enroute to the 7-1 win.
Next up for the Major Bantams are three away games in three days starting on Friday, October 23rd that sees them playing Cambridge, Sun County, and Windsor. It promises to be a challenging weekend with the boys planning to carry the momentum from this game forward into those three games.