The Buffalo Jr. Sabres came into town tonight with the highest winning percentage in the 22 team OJHL and the large crowd saw two heavyweights go at it for a full 60 minutes. With just over a minute into the game Erick Delaurentis gave the home side the lead set up by Justin Bean who earned his first Junior A point. Mid-way through the middle frame the Sabres tied it at one only to see the Dukes strike back just over a minute later on an unassisted goal by Trevor Cope.
In the third period the Sabres tied the game up at two but again the Dukes grabbed the lead only 39 seconds later on a goal by Joe McKeown with assists going to Abbott Girduckis and Jacob Panetta. With the Sabres on their heels Luc Brown gave the Dukes a two goal lead only 45 seconds later with Austin Broadhurst picking up the lone assist, his first point of the season. The never-say-die Sabres inched closer with a goal with just 7 seconds left in regulation before Delaurentis added an empty netter with one second left.
Lucas Machalski picked up the win in net facing 39 shots. Delaurentis was named 1st Star with his pair of goals. Broadhurst was named 2nd Star and Defensive Player of the Game. Cody Gratton was 3rd Star while Luc Brown was named Hardest Working Player of the Game.
The Dukes now hit the road for a pair of games. Saturday night they make their lone trip of the regular season to Mississauga to take on the Chargers starting at 8:00 PM.