Flyers continue to roll; beat London and Chatham

By C. Scott Holland

LEAMINGTON — It was a battle for first place last Thursday night as a three-way tie for the top spot featured London, Leamington and Chatham.

With Leamington topping London 3-1 Thursday, they vaulted into sole possession of first.

On Saturday afternoon, Leamington followed that up with a 4-2 win in Chatham, opening up a four point first-place lead.

On Thursday, with 235 spectators present, goaltenders Ryan Polidori (Flyers) and Owen Flores (London) engaged in a supreme battle.

“It was a big win for us. We didn’t have a good first period,” said Flyers head coach Dale Mitchell. “We weren’t making passes or creating much in the offensive zone, and we were lucky to get out of the period tied 0-0. That is a big credit to our goalie (Ryan) Polidori.”

After the opening period ended scoreless, Flyers’ fans might have felt a bit bleak since the Nationals had dominated the majority of the stanza. London starter Flores stopped seven chances, while Polidori shone by halting 12 Nats’ attempts. Each side had one powerplay chance, but the defence and goaltending kept the slate clean.

“We adjusted in the second period and plenty of credit goes to the players,” said Mitchell. “They came out and set the pace. We capitalized on our powerplay, which was important.”

At the start of the second, it was like the Flyers had flipped a switch. In the opening couple of minutes, Noah Prudhomme and Blake McNally laid the groundwork on a powerplay for Gavin Grundner’s right lane wrist shot that sailed past Flores on his blocker side. That tally not only put the Flyers ahead, but gave Leamington the momentum to press London during the remainder of the second.

It’s a scramble around the London net as Flyers Jack Cotter (18), Connor McCracken (16) and Andrew Uturo (7) eye a loose puck.

C. Scott Holland photo

At 11:15, Darby Lemieux and Gabe Piccolo gave Wyatt O’Neil a chance to shoot on net from the right lane. O’Neil’s innocent long shot skipped off the ice and past Flores who wasn’t expecting to handle the puck, and as quickly as the shot came, it was behind Flores .

A critical juncture for the Flyers occurred at 15:41 on a play behind the London net when two Flyers – Noah Prudhomme and Gabe Piccolo – were sidelined with minor penalties, while London received only one to Logan Pace-Roth.

The Flyers ensuing penalty kill was superb and Leamington had more shots on net shorthanded than the Nats did during that two-minute man advantage.

In the third, London’s offense kept trying to penetrate the Flyers’ zone and get pucks past Polidori. They outshot the Flyers 14-5 in that frame but were thwarted.

Three minutes into the final stanza, frustration led to a dandy fight between Leamington’s Jack Cotter and London’s Kurtis Heggie. The two combatants were allowed to exchange some punches for about a minute before the tussle was halted.

At 17:45, the Nats pulled Flores for an extra attacker and initially they were denied a couple of times before they got a puck past Polidori with 1:31 left. Daniel Torrealba notched the Nats’ goal.

Flores re-entered the contest for the faceoff but was again yanked for the extra man. The Flyers iced the 3-1 victory at 19:39 when Ryan Clark flipped

the puck high off the glass and down the ice where Ryan MacPherson collected it then deposited an empty-net insurance goal.

Final saves were 25 by Flores and 31 for Polidori.

The Saturday matinee in Chatham was as crucial to win as the one against London.

Like the previous contest, the Flyers got stellar netminding from starter Boe Piroski, who halted 46 Chatham shots en route to a 4-2 victory.

Getting on board first was one of the keys to winning. Connor Mc- Cracken had the honor of slipping the puck into the Chatham net at 5:20 of the opening frame. Near the 14-minute mark, Connor MacPherson upped the lead to 2-0.

Early in the second, Grundner fired the third tally, and a few minutes later Seth Martineau pumped a shot that handcuffed Chatham starter Nolan DeKoning.

That 4-0 edge lasted until a 90-second defensive lapse late in the period when the Maroons scored their only goals at 17:22 and 18:53.

The Maroons applied intense pressure throughout the third as the Flyers spent a good portion of the period in their own end zone, but sparkling defensive work and Piroski’s brilliant goaltending kept the Maroon off the board.

With the February 1st date for adding any unsigned players to rosters passing, the Flyers did make two additions. Adam Jeffery and Kobe Seguin — who both played on the 2019-20 edition of the Flyers – have joined the team. Seguin is expected to start after a couple of practices and Jeffery’s return is unknown at the moment.

The Flyers next home game is February 17 versus St. Marys Lincolns at 7:10 p.m.