Flyers rally to edge Wild in overtime

A valiant effort by a shortstaffed Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild team came up just short on Saturday night.

The Moncton Flyers scored two goals in the final six minutes of the third period, including Alexis Dube’s tying goal with 18 seconds remaining, and then won the game on Patrick LeBlanc’s second goal of the night at 1:59 of overtime. The game-winning tally came 23 seconds into a Moncton power play, and was scored at 1:59 to give the Flyers a 5-4 victory in the New Brunswick/P.E.I. Major Midget Hockey League contest at Credit Union Centre.

Both teams were missing a number of regulars due to a preCanada Games tournament in Dartmouth, N.S. The Wild, who was also without assistant captains Ryan Richards (suspension) and Dixon MacLeod (injury), had five affiliate players dressed while the Flyers had two affiliates in their lineup.

Cole Cormier (1-2) and Owen Cole also scored for the Flyers, who took a 4-0-0 (won-lost-overtime losses) record into Sunday afternoon’s game against the Northern Moose (1-6-0).

Isaac Wilson (2), Duncan Picketts and Reid Peardon found the back of the net for the Wild. Affiliated player Alex Hutchinson, Lucas Parsons and Keiran Gallant all chipped in with two assists.

The teams were tied 1-1 after one period, and 2-2 at the end of 40 minutes.

Overall, the Flyers outshot the Wild 43-29, including 18-9 and 14-10 advantages in the first two periods. Jacob LeBlanc was the winning goaltender, and Chad Arsenault handled Kensington’s goaltending duties.

The Flyers were whistled for eight minors while the Wild picked up five minors and one double minor for head-butting.

The Wild took a 1-1-1 record into Sunday afternoon’s road game against the Fredericton Caps (1-2-2). The result of that game was unavailable at deadline time.

Kensington visits the Charlottetown Bulk Carriers Pride (30-0) at the Bell Aliant Centre on the UPEI campus on Friday, and returns home to host the Saint John Vitos (4-2-0) on Saturday. Both games are 7:30 p.m. starts.