Austin Thompson scored a power play goal in overtime to propel the Chatham Maroons to a 6-5 win over the Leamington Flyers Sunday night at Chatham Memorial Arena.
The Maroons and Flyers continue to jockey for position in the GOJHL's Western Conference standings. Chatham sits in fourth place with 29 points, just two behind the Flyers and four behind the division-leading LaSalle Vipers.
Chatham's Bobby Harrison started the scoring at 8:37 in the first period for that frame's lone goal. Harrison would get an assist later in the contest. The second period would have the Maroons extending their lead to 3-0 thanks to two back-to-back goals. Devin Panzeca had a shorthanded goal at 4:02, then Nolan VandenBoorn scored his first goal of the night over two minutes later. Leamington cracked the scoreboard on the power play at 9:29 thanks to Brett Vorshuk's goal, though the Maroons would carry a 4-1 lead into the locker room after 40 minutes following a score by Josh King.
VandenBoorn's second goal of the night, on the power play, would provide Chatham with a 5-1 cushion at 6:41 of the second period. Then, the Flyers would skate their way back into the game with four unanswered goals. Mark Gangnon and Liam Hogan had back-to-back power play goals midway through the period. After the 15th minute of play in the period, the Flyers would score twice in ten seconds, from Zach Guilbeault and Cale Phibbs.
The overtime winner would come at 2:39 from Thompson, with VandenBoorn and Kevin Gursoy assisting.
The Maroons outshot the Flyers 37-30. Brendan Johnston was the winner in the crease for the Maroons. Leamington's Connor Meyerink stopped 31 of Chatham's shots.
The Flyers travel to Vollmer Complex Wednesday night to face the first-place Vipers, while the Maroons host the Sarnia Legionnaires next Sunday night.
