Stars and Flyers finish in a knot

   St. Thomas opens the GOJHL season tying Leamington at three

Friday September 14, 2018

By Rob J. Ross 

ST. THOMAS -  The St. Thomas Stars have kicked off the 2018-19 hockey season with a tie. Yes, a tie.

After failing to hold on to a two goal with under five minutes remaining in the third period, the Stars settled for a 3-3 draw with the Leamington Flyers, in Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League action, at the Joe Thornton Centre.

Overtime solved nothing, leaving both teams with one point in the Western Conference standings.

"We were up 2-1 and then we got that break to go up 3-1. We should have shut it down. It's a learning experience. We had three lines and a lot of our vets were gassed and it cost us at the end of the third," Stars' head coach Darren Kelly said. "I'm happy with the boys' effort. We got a point in our first game. We'll be ok."

Jackson Brown gave the Stars a 2-1 lead, just past the mid point of the third period. Eric Langridge was awarded a goal, putting the Stars up 3-1, after Flyers' goalie Chase Johnson put the puck into his own net.

Stars' new logo

The Leamington Flyers scored twice in 1:46, the second goal with the extra attacker, tying the game with 1:27 remaining in the third period.

"It was just mental breakdowns in the neutral zone," Kelly added. "It was more of being on the wrong side of the puck. A broken play led to the 3-2 goal and then we're down to a 1:20 left and we couldn't get the puck out. There are always mistakes in hockey. It's a matter of when they happen."

With the Flyers' net empty and the Stars leading by a goal, Cal Horvat zipped the puck from mid ice, missing the cage by no more than two feet.

"He's probably reliving it in his head," Kelly said. "If he scores, we probably win, but we miss the net and they go down and score."

The Stars lost defenceman Jake Rendall mid third period, after he entertained Flyers' Dylan Weston, in a spirited tussle.

"That's a big loss for us. He logs a lot of minutes in the D zone," said Kelly.

The Stars only had nine forwards, with Brayden Smith, out serving a suspension for an incident from preseason and Sean McGurn, still waiting for his transfer approval.

McGurn is a 2018 London Knights' draft pick from Ottawa. His parents even made the trip from their hometown to watch their 16-year old son.

Smith, 17, played with his hometown Aylmer Spitfires last season.

 "We have a good young team," said Horvat, the Stars' captain. "It was a tough two goal deficit we let up. It's the first game of the season and we still have to get all of the bad habits out, clear that up for future games."

The Stars opened the scoring on Jake Burtons' first period power play goal. Johnny Ulicny knotted the affair for Leamington in the middle frame.

Stars' Lucas Mastroianni had two assists.

Stars' goalie Anthony Hurtubise made 33 saves and maybe, a little bit, felt for Johnson when he slid the puck into his own net. Hurtubise had his own near own goal experience earlier in the game, when he lost sight of the puck on a Flyers' shoot in, making the St. Thomas supporters of the 520 spectators nervous.

St. Thomas was one for seven on the power play, while Leamington was zero for three.

The Stars visit St. Marys, Saturday, September 22nd, before hosting Sarnia, Sunday, September 23rd, at the JTC.