The Buffalo Jr. Sabres may have taken 50 shots, but with many of them coming from the sides and easily visible to the goaltender, the team ultimately fell to the Toronto Patriots by a score of 4-2 Wednesday night in their penultimate regular season home game.
Buffalo found themselves in a quick hole, letting the Patriots take an early 1-0 lead just 1:26 into the opening frame on a goal by Lee Lapid. Jordan Anderson gave Toronto a two-goal lead late in the first.
The Jr. Sabres needed to get on the board, and they did, thanks to captain Zach Evancho.
Evancho scored the opening goal for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres, putting one behind Patriots netminder Jacob Standen with a shot that dinged off the post before going in.
But not too long after, Toronto took advantage of a power-play to regain the two-goal lead on a tally by Colton Kalezic.
Nick Stuckless later flipped the puck over Kowalski’s shoulder and in to make it 4-1 in favor of the Patriots.
Aaron Reinig blasted one in from the point to make it a 4-2 game just over halfway through the third period for his ninth of the season.
Buffalo was ultimately unable to complete the comeback and found themselves on the penalty kill late in the game, which helped stifle any chances of tying things up.
Despite outshooting Toronto by an impressive margin of 50-25, the Jr. Sabres couldn’t hit the back of the net and ultimately struggled to make strong offensive plays throughout the night.
They’ll return to action on Friday, visiting the Oakville Blades.
The Jr. Sabres close out the regular-season home schedule when Georgetown visits on February 17, then finish the season February 20 against Mississauga.
