The North York Rangers could not hold down the Buffalo Jr. Sabres, and Jr. Sabres erased a four-goal deficit en route to a 7-5 win.
Buffalo never led in the game until netting the game winner. The Jr. Sabres was down 5-1 after a goal by North York’s Grayden Gottschalk at 8:55 in the second period. Buffalo knotted things up at 5-5 on a goal by Wilson Vershay at 11:02 in the third period. The Jr. Sabres scored the game winner at 15:22 in the third period on a goal by Vershay.
Vershay was all over the ice for Buffalo, as he registered two goals in the win.
The Jr. Sabres forced the Rangers goalie Gianluca Baggetta to work between the pipes, taking 34 shots. Buffalo surpassed its usual scoring output this season. The Jr. Sabres have scored at the pace of 4.1 goals per game during the current campaign. The defensemen of Buffalo were also effective in North York’s zone, and came away with three goals.
Buffalo additionally got points from Tim Nicksic, who also grabbed two goals and one assist, Christopher Berger, who also had one goal and two assists to lead the team in points, and Dylan Seitz, who also tallied one goal and one assist. Ryan Wheeler also scored for Buffalo. In addition, Buffalo received assists from Evan Bennett, Matthew Buchbinder, and Christian Zimmerman, who contributed one each and Nicholas Bondra and Griffin Lunn, who each chipped in two.
The Rangers put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow the Jr. Sabres to score on any of their five power plays.
North York was led by Michael Morgan, who registered one goal and one assist. Morgan scored 1:18 into the first period to make the score 1-0 North York. Gottschalk picked up the assist. North York also got points from Gottschalk, who also tallied one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. North York also had goals scored by Ted Hunt, Kyle Clarke, and Keegan Blasby, who each put in one. Other players who recorded assists for North York were Tyler Currie, who had two and Ryan Hunt, Joshua Dame, Fedor Rudakov, and Nick Campoli, who contributed one each.
Buffalo took out Brian Kowalski after he had made 15 saves and installed Tucker Weppner in goal, where he finished with 10 saves and the win. The Jr. Sabres incurred 22 minutes in penalty time with six minors. For Buffalo, Bennett was ejected from the game. Gianluca Baggetta made 27 saves for the Rangers on 33 shots. North York incurred 12 minutes in penalty time with six minors.
