Flyers find a way against Little Caesars
The Don Mills Flyers came out of the blocks fast against a well-travelled Detroit Little Caesars club before seeing their opponent wrestle away momentum in the latter half of the game.
Despite being outshot 25-11 over the last two periods, the Flyers prevailed by a score of 2-1 thanks to 30 saves from goaltender Joe Vrbetic and a late game winner from Matthew Perciballi (1).
“I saw a little bit of traffic in the slot and just decided to send the puck to the net,” said Perciballi of his winner with 2:20 remaining in the third period. “It’s one of the biggest goals I’ve scored all season and it’s great that we’ve been able to make the most of our chance today.”
Josh Currie (1) broke a scoreless game with 5:16 left in the second period before Detroit’s Garrett Szydlowski (1) knotted the score on the power play 4:31 into the third.
Perciballi’s big goal sends the Flyers back to the OHL Cup Powered by Under Armour after missing out on the event last year. Don Mills has faced adversity and come up short at various points this season, being eliminated in the first round of the GTHL Playoffs before suffering a hard-fought Wild Card Series loss at the hands of the Mississauga Senators.
“It’s like a fresh start you know,” Perciballi added. “We don’t have to think about stuff that’s happened before and we can just focus on what we have ahead of us.”
A chippy game saw the two clubs combine for 13 power plays as Detroit went 1-for-7 to Don Mills’ 0-for-6 on the man advantage.
Don Mills advances to compete in the Subban Division against the Brantford 99ers, Toronto Jr. Canadiens, Barrie Jr. Colts and Thunder Bay Kings.
PLAYER OF THE GAME:
Don Mills – Ivan Mikuljan (+1, 1 SOG)
Little Caesars – Mark Estapa (3 SOG, 6/7 FO)
Matthew Perciballi scores the game-winning goal for the Don Mills Flyers.
