Blades drop playoff opener 4-3 to Flags

MOORETOWN – The Blenheim Blades travelled to Mooretown
Wednesday night to begin their best-of-seven Provincial Junior Hockey
League Stobbs Division quarter-final series with the Flags and dropped
Game 1 by a 4-3 score.
The two teams will be right back in action for Game 2 Thursday night
at 7 p.m. at the Blenheim Memorial arena.
Game 3 will be in Mooretown Saturday at 7:30, and Game 4 back in
Blenheim Sunday at 7.
In the other playoff game Wednesday the Wheatley Sharks took a
one-game lead in their series with the Amherstburg Admirals thanks to
a 4-2 victory in Amherstburg.
Tuesday night the Essex 73’s won Game 1 of their series with the
Petrolia Flyers 5-2 in Essex. They will play Game 2 Thursday in Petrolia,
while the Lakeshore Canadiens and Wallaceburg Thunderhawks begin
their best-of-seven set Friday in Lakeshore.
All but one of the seven goals scored in the game came in the first
period with the Blades Ian Campbell giving his team a 1-0 lead at the 59
second mark with an assist from Ryan Terry.
Mooretown’s Levi Plain evened things with an unassisted goal at 2:32.
Greg Hay put the Flags up 2-1 at 8:22, with Blades defenceman
Sebastian Stubberfield trying the game at 2-2 at 13:01. The goal was
unassisted.
The Flags went up 3-2 when Ayden Letang scored at 13:52, but
Stubberfield’s second tally of the night sent the teams to their dressing
rooms after 20 minutes tied 3-3.
Trent Amaro and Seth Henderson assisted on the goal.

The only other goal in the game came at 14:30 of the second period
off the stick of Mooretown’s Jake Vince and proved to be the winner.
BLADES BITS: Caleb Pinsonneault had a busy night in the Blades net as
he faced 53 shots, while his teammates managed only 29 on the Flags
net…Not dressed for the Blades were Evan Minnie, Jared Delaey, Brett
Wegrzyn and Connor Roth…Veteran Connor Wright was ejected in the
first period following a fight with the Flags Kaden Babcock…On the play
Wright was assessed a fighting major, a head contact two-minute
penalty and a 10-minute misconduct, while Babcock was ejected after
being given a fighting major and an instigator penalty…Attendance was
a 192.