Winkler goaltender Josh Williams had a very impressive debut on Saturday night, as the Flyers doubled the OCN Blizzard 2-1, winning their fifth game in a row. Williams kicked aside 38 of the 39 shots he faced, while Nolan McGuire and Gino Lucia each recorded a goal and an assist to help the Flyers get past the Blizzard for the second straight night.

On Friday night, the Flyers offense connected for five goals while holding the Blizzard to very little on the offensive side of the puck. Saturday was a much different style of game with OCN giving the Flyers much more to handle.

The first period was a physical 20 minutes with the two teams skating into the intermission tied 0-0. Goaltender Josh Williams, who was acquired by the Flyers a few days earlier made a number of great saves along the way while keeping the Blizzard off the board in the first two periods.

Winkler opened the scoring, 9:13 into the second period when Gino Lucia snuck one through the five hole of Emiliem Boily. Nolan McGuire and Will Blake assisted on Lucia’s seventh of the season and fifth in his last three games. Despite being outshot 30-20 in the first 40 minutes, the Flyers took their one goal lead into the final frame.

With OCN continuing to get their chances, and with Williams continuing to turn them away, Nolan McGuire gave the Flyers some insurance with 10:27 left in regulation. After getting the puck at the right point from Gino Lucia, captain Connor Hamonic found McGuire alone in the slot and the Winkler native snapped home his sixth of the year to give the Flyers a 2-0 advantage.

That goal proved to be a big one as the Blizzard finally managed to beat Williams with seven and a half minutes left on the clock, cutting Winkler’s lead to 2-1. But that would be as close as the visitors would get as the Flyers would prevent the Blizzard from pulling even.

Josh Williams finished the game with 38 saves in his first start between the pipes for Winkler. OCN outshot Winkler 39-36. Both teams were 0-for-4 on the power-play.

The Flyers (10-3-0) will head back on the road on Tuesday, October 25th when they travel to Selkirk (7-6-1). Winkler is 1-0 against the Steelers this season. You can catch Tuesday’s game live on Country 88.9FM and online at www.pembinavalleyonline.com with Matt Friesen’s pregame show getting underway at 7:25pm.


GREAT CANADIAN OIL CHANGE THREE STARS
1st Star – G Josh Williams (Winkler)
2nd Star – F Nolan McGuire (Winkler)
3rd Star – F Gino Lucia (Winkler)


GAME STATS