The Winkler Flyers grinded out a 2-1 win over the visiting OCN Blizzard on Saturday night. Brett Klassen and Zach Heisinger tallied for the Flyers, who took three of the possible four points available during the weekend double header against their rivals from the north.
After suffering a 1-0 shootout loss a night earlier, the Flyers welcomed the Blizzard back to Winkler for a second straight night. Adam Vander Linden (Winkler) and Devon Fordyce (OCN) were back between the pipes after shutting out both offenses on Friday.
OCN managed to crack the goose egg first, capitalizing on a Flyers turnover and taking a 1-0 lead, twelve minutes into the first period. The Flyers offense once again failed to solve Blizzard goaltender Devon Fordyce in the first despite outshooting OCN 14-8 in the period.
Just under six minutes into the second period, the Flyers finally got on the board. Zach Heisinger cleaned up a loose puck beside the net, tying the game 1-1 at the 5:49 mark of the middle period. Reid Burak and Tanner Posch drew the assists on Heisinger’s second goal of the season.
The Flyers power-play, which had failed to click the last number of games, went to work late in the second period. With 1:08 to play in the period, Brett Klassen carried the puck across the front of the net and scored his second of the season, putting Winkler ahead 2-1. Lawson McDonald and Shawn Pachet picked up the helpers.
Leading by a goal after 40 minutes, Adam Vander Linden and the rest of the Flyers held off the Blizzard attack in the third and earned the two points and the 2-1 victory.
Vander Linden (4-1-1) made 32 saves in the win. The 19 year old only allowed one goal on the 68 shots he faced during the two games on the weekend. The Flyers went 1-for-5 on the power-play and 4-for-4 on the penalty-kill.
The Flyers (7-2-2) will host the first place Portage Terriers on Tuesday night in their next game. It will be the last home game before Winkler embarks on a four game road trip. Puck drop at the Winkler Recreation Complex is 7:30pm.