Sometimes, all you need to describe a good win are the numbers.
Twelve goals. Seven power-play tallies. A combined total of 116 penalty minutes. Five game misconducts.
Together, it all describes the Jr. Sabres’ 12-0 victory over the Milton Icehawks on Wednesday night.
In the end, 15 of 17 Buffalo skaters registered at least a point in the win.
Jr. Sabres captain Zach Evancho, who was honored in a pregame ceremony, registered a five-point night, with a goal and four assists.
Aaron Reinig, Griffin Lunn, Ryan Wheeler and Bryce Ferrell each put up three points on the night.
Brenden Dunning, Dylan Seitz, Mitch Spring, Kevin Wall, Nick Bondra and Tim Nicksic each had a pair of points.
Ryan Sidorski, Chris Berger, Wilson Vershay and Josh Biasillo also each registered a point.
It began with a three-goal first period that saw Dunning, Sidorski and Wheeler all tally for Buffalo.
The second period saw another solid offensive effort, with Dunning potting his second of the game and Lunn his first.
The final frame is when things got a little crazy.
Shortly after an early goal by Spring to put the Jr. Sabres up 6-0, several fights broke out across the ice.
As a result, four game misconducts were handed out along with a slew of minor, double-minor and major penalties.
All of that left Buffalo with a four-minute 5-on-3 advantage, a chance they certainly didn’t take for granted.
In fact, Spring’s initial goal (an even-strength tally) combined with several more minor penalties to Milton and five power-play goals, meant the Jr. Sabres scored six times in a span of just 6:31.
First, it was Reinig, about a minute after the fracas began. Just 34 seconds later, Wall made it 8-0.
Another 1:08 after that, it was Griffin Lunn putting Buffalo up by nine, then Nicholas Bondra making it double-digits just 26 seconds later.
Exactly three minutes after Bondra’s goal, Evancho made it 11-0.
In the midst of the flurry of goals, several more fights broke out, resulting in an additional game misconduct on Milton’s side, as well as multiple major penalties, double-minors and 10-minute misconducts all around.
Tim Nicksic would pot a 12th goal for Buffalo with under two minutes to play.
Overall, Buffalo went 7-for-10 on the power play.
Brian Kowalski had 20 saves in the shutout victory, while his cohort Jakob DevIncentis had 23 saves on 35 shots faced.
Prior to the game, Jr. Sabres captain Zach Evancho received his award from the OJHL after being named Gongshow Gear’s Southwest Conference Player of the Month for December 2015.
The Jr. Sabres have just two home regular season games remaining, but have already clinched a spot in the playoffs in the race for the Buckland Cup!
Next up, Buffalo heads on the road to face the Oakville Blades on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. They’ll return home next Wednesday, February 10th to host the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots.
