The season is coming to a close, and the Blades are hunting for a playoff spot. Oakville had two big division games against the Brantford 99ers and Milton Menace; if the Blades were to win these games, it would be huge for the team.
February 9, 2023: Oakville Blades at Brantford 99ers
Oakville headed into their game against the 99ers with an agenda. The team needed this win badly to gain traction in the standings.
The Blades started the game better than you could imagine, as they scored just 11 seconds into the game with a goal by Jacob Crisp.
Just over three minutes later, Crisp struck again for his second goal of the game to give Oakville a 2-0 lead.
Oakville tried desperately to get another goal in the period but was unable to, and the first frame ended 2-0 Oakville.
Six minutes into the second period, Oakville scored again with a goal by Gianmarco Caringi, assisted by Shawn Valere and Luc Modry, to give the Blades a 3-0 lead.
Jacob Crisp got his hat trick goal under two minutes later, assisted by Lachlan Wells and Gleb Akimov, to give Oakville a 4-0 lead.
Brantford got one back with a goal by Andrew Vermeulen to make the score 4-1, but Oakville answered back with two powerplay goals by Matthew Wang and Jacob Crisp, with his fourth goal of the game bringing the game to the second intermission.
The third period saw less scoring, but Jacob Crisp scored his fifth goal to give the Blades a 7-1 lead.
With that goal, Crisp became the first player of the OJHL season to score five goals in a game.
Brantford scored one more goal with less than a minute left in the game, but that was all they could get, and the Blades won this game 7-2.
February 12, 2023: Oakville Blades at Milton Menace
After a big win against the 99ers, Oakville had a big task in front of them in their game against the Milton Menace.
The Blades looked to be up to the task as Jacob Crisp scored shorthanded in the first period to give the Blades a 1-0 lead, his sixth goal in four periods.
Later in the period, Jack Churchill scored for the Blades, assisted by Lachlan Wells and Marco Costante, to give the Blades a 2-0 lead.
Milton got a goal back with a shot by Lucas Buzziol to get the Menace back within one.
Oakville took the lead into the first intermission.
The second period started similar to the first as Oakville opened up the scoring with a goal by Shawn Valere to extend Oakville’s lead to 3-1.
Then shortly after, while the Blades were killing a penalty, Jack Churchill scored again, going off the post and in to give Oakville a 4-1 lead.
Shortly after Churchill’s goal, Milton’s Justin O’Donnell scored to bring Milton to within two.
No more goals were scored in the second period, but both teams played a very chippy period, and all players involved made it clear that these two teams do not like each other.
Unfortunately, the Blades let the Menace back into the game in the third period.
Five minutes into the period, Owen Forester scored for Milton on the powerplay to bring the score to 4-3.
Then around a minute and a half later, Bradley Banach scored to tie the game 4-4.
The Blades got a chance to retake the lead as they were given a powerplay.
But this powerplay turned into a Milton advantage as the Menace scored two goals on the penalty kill, the first being an incredible through-the-legs goal by Jared Coccimiglio and the second by Aidan Hughes.
With a 6-4 Milton lead, the Blades had a huge hill to climb.
Although the team tried to get back in the game, Milton scored an empty net goal to lock in a 7-4 win and give the Blades a regrettable loss.
The Blades next play at home on Family Day, Monday, Feb. 20 in the afternoon.