Blades Fall To Canadiens
SUBMITTED BY: BLENHEIM BLADES
www.blenheimblades.com
Blades guns go silent after 20 minutes; fall to Habs 7-4 
For the first period of Sunday’s Provincial Junior Hockey League Stobbs Division game between the Blenheim Blades and the Lakeshore Canadiens before 342 fans at the Blenheim arena it was a shootout.
The Blades scored four times and Lakeshore three, but from then on the Blenheim shooters took the rest of the night off as the Canadiens scored twice in the middle period and two more times in the third for a 7-4 victory.
The win for the second-place Canadiens was their ninth in a row and gives them 26 point thanks to a 13-3-0 record, and moves them to within two points of the first-place Blades who are 13-5-2.
The game was the second in two nights for the Blades, and third in four for the Habs, with the Blades back in action Monday night when they travel to Wheatley to play the Sharks at 7 p.m.
Before the puck dropped Sunday the Blades knew they were in for a battle without their full lineup dressed. Missing were four veterans – forwards Zach Horvath and Matt Clark, defenceman Brayden Seliga and goalie Eric Stewardson.
That said the rest of the squad battled hard as the teams traded seven goals in the first period.
Kier Cumming started the scoring outburst with a powerplay goal at 2:22 with assists going to Dustin Maines and Owen Bateman. The goal was the 10th of the year for Cumming.
Lakeshore’s Jake Nimmo tied things at 1-1 at 5:36, and less than a minute later at 6:14 it was George Wood putting the Blades up 2-1 thanks to his third score of the year assisted by Carter Wright and Bryce Broad.
The Canadiens Connor Rosaasen then evened things again at 8:58 before Wright put the Blades up 3-2 at 13:07 thanks to his fifth goal of the year with assists going to Wood and Broad.
The 3-2 Blades lead lasted until 18:06 when Mejoe Gasparovic again tied the game for the Habs just before Nate Broek 31 seconds later send the Blades to the dressing with a 4-3 edge. For Broek the goal was his fourth and was assisted by Cumming and Braeden Allore.
However that goal ended the scoring for the Blades, while the Canadiens got two second-period goals from Joe Binder and Aaron Moore, and two more in the third frame by Nimmo and Binder to ice the win.
Adam Craven was in goal for the Blades and faced 32 shots, while his teammates fired 27 at Lakeshore netminder Mitch Topliffe.
The game was a tame affair with Lakeshore being assessed four minor penalties and a misconduct, and the Blades three minors. Each team scored a powerplay goal.
BLADES BITS: Following Monday’s game in Wheatley the Blades will be idle until Friday when they travel to Dresden to play the Kings at 7:30, with Dresden returning the favour Sunday when they come to town for a 7 p.m. contest…For fans who might be wondering, four of the top clubs in attendance in the 62-team Provincial Junior Hockey League are all from the Stobbs Division led by the Essex 73’s at 596, followed by the Amherstburg Admirals at 429, Lakeshore at 427, Woodstock at 390 and the Blades at 384…Last year the Blades drew just 313 a game so they are slowing an average of 71 fans more for each home game…Thursday, Nov. 24 will be South Kent Minor Hockey Association Night with players attending the game against the Mooretown Flags wearing their jerseys getting in for free…Saturday, Nov. 26 will be the Blades annual “Alumni Night” with three alumni games – 3 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. – followed by a PJHL Stobbs Division game against the Wallaceburg Lakers at 6:15…The annual “Skate With the Blades” will take place after the Sunday, Dec. 11 game against the Wheatley Sharks…The team will be holding another Quarter Auction Friday, Dec. 16 at the Blenheim Legion…Tickets are available in the lobby at home games.