Blades split weekend series with Mooretown

Talk about a couple of close games for the Blenheim Blades and
Mooretown Flags in Provincial Junior Hockey League Stobbs Division
action on the weekend.
Sunday night at the Blenheim Memorial Arena the Blades held on
for a 2-1 victory over the Flags, after losing a 4-3 decision when they
blew a late third-period 3-2 lead, and fell to the Flags 4-3 on Walpole
Island Saturday night.
The weekend split leaves Blenheim in third place with an 8-6-0-0
record and 16 points, two up on Mooretown, and four ahead of the
fifth-place Wheatley Sharks.
The Blades return to action Tuesday when they travel to Essex to
play the first-place Essex ’73s at 7 p.m., before returning home
Sunday to host the Dresden Kings on Veterans Week Night at 7 p.m.
In Sunday’s win the teams played a scoreless first period, with the
Blades scoring two second-period goals that held up until
Mooretown’s Masen Flett netted a shorthanded tally at 11:43 of the
third period.
The Blades then shut the door on the Flags the rest of the way.
Both second-period Blenheim goals came on the powerplay with
Connor Roth getting his second of the season at 6:23, and Noah
Prudhomme his seventh at 14:04.
Prudhomme and Darby Lemieux assisted on Roth’s goal, with Jaxon
Boucher and goalie Jake Vancoillie doing the same on Prudhomme’s
tally.
In Saturday’s game it appeared the Blades, after being down 2-0
early, had things well in hand with a 3-2 lead with six minutes to go.
Then the roof fell in.

The Flags Gavin Black scored to tie things at 14:42, and Jace Dupuis
followed with the game winner for the Flags at 18:17.
Brodie Genyn and Logan Gardner had given Mooretown a 2-0 first
period lead – Genyn at 4:22 and Gardner at 4:56.
Blades rookie Sam Warriner sliced that margin in half with a
powerplay tally at 11;06, assisted by Evan Wells.
The goal was Warriner’s first as a Blade.
Prudhomme tied things with his sixth of the season at 16:19 with an
assist going to Connor Wright.
Tate Bowden’s eighth of the season at 14:55 of the middle 20
minutes put the Blades in front 3-2 with assists going to Warriner and
Alex Webster.
That lead stood up until the Flags mounted their comeback late in
the third period.
BLADES BITS: Blenheim was missing three top players Saturday night
as Austin Drew, Zack Van Boxtel and Darby Lemieux all missed the
game because of other commitments…Forward Ryan Sanders
continued to be out of the lineup with an illness…The Flags outshot
the Blades 35-34…Blenheim netminder Vancoillie, with the game tied
3-3, stopped Mooretown’s top point producer on a penalty shot at
16:25 of the third period… Sunday night Vancoillie made 35 saves,
while his teammates fired 41 shots on the Mooretown net…Daniel
Norton and Ryan Sanders did not dress for Sunday’s game…
Attendance Sunday was 401…Sunday’s ice sponsor was the Ridge
Landfill Community Trust.