Sabres sweep Diesels on road
| By editorial Tuesday, 14 October 2008 - 4:18pm. |
By Mitch Calvert, Staff writer
The Fort Frances Jr. Sabres are back on even ground.
After dropping four-straight games on home ice to start the season, the Sabres now have rattled off four wins in a row, including back-to-back victories Friday and Saturday over the host Schreiber Diesels, to get back to the .500 mark.
The teams then traded second-period goals, with Dan Smith netting the Sabres’ goal on a power play.
Holding a slim 2-1 lead, the floodgates opened in the third as the Sabres exploded for six goals en route to an 8-3 win.
The line of Carson Dubchak (back from Team West tryouts), Brendan Baumgartner, and Chris Sinclair provided much of the damage, connecting for four of the goals.
Meanwhile, Ryan Faragher stopped 34 of 37 shots to earn the win.
“We had a little lapse in the third after we went up 4-1, but we adjusted and went back to work,” Sabres’ head coach Wayne Strachan said. “We were too much for the Diesels to handle Friday night.
“Our speed and aggressive play kept them on their heals all game.”
The Diesels opened the scoring Saturday on a power play but Mitch Cain also connected with the man-advantage to knot the score going into first intermission.
Kenny Carpenter put the Sabres ahead halfway through the second period on a short-handed effort, then Cain once again connected on a power play early in the third to give them a two-goal cushion.
Gabe Capozzi sealed the win halfway through third. The Diesels added a late power-play goal to make the final score 4-2.
The teams combined for 124 penalty minutes on 49 infractions as emotions boiled over in Saturday’s game. Familiarity most certainly bred contempt in this two-game series.
“The second game wasn’t as good a game to watch,” noted Strachan. “The outcome was good, but lots of penalties on both teams took the flow of the game away.”
The Sabres next face the expansion Sioux Lookout Flyers tonight (Oct. 14) at 7:30 p.m. at the Ice for Kids Arena.
