Fisticuffs overshadowed a 1-0 shutout by the Sarnia Legionnaires over the LaSalle Vipers Thursday night at Sarnia Arena.
Blair Coffin stopped all 35 shots he faced for the Legionnaires as the teams defended both their goals and themselves.
The first period was generally uneventful with no goals scored and one power play chance for each side. Things started to get wild in the second period as there were no goals, but plenty of fists and equipment flying. LaSalle's Bradley Vincent and Sarnia's John Sanderson got game misconducts at 9:21 in the second. The next melee happened at 14:52, with Sarnia's Joey Zappa and LaSalle's Hayden Johnston each being shown the showers.
Jake Vince finally broke the scoreless tie for the Legionnaires at 1:18 in the third period, for what would become the game's only goal, but the fighting wasn't finished yet. The Vipers' Stefan Dobrich and Vince were sent away at 4:33. 22 seconds later, Jarret Marks of the Legionnaires got his second abuse-of-officials misconduct call of the night and was kicked out. Sarnia's Ethan DuPont sealed it at the final buzzer with an obscene gesture, earning him a game misconduct.
James Walker stopped all but one of Sarnia's 28 shots in goal for the Vipers, who next visit the Chatham Maroons Sunday night. The Legionnaires travel to St. Thomas Friday.
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The Leamington Flyers got sole possession of second place with a 3-2 home win over the Strathroy Rockets.
The Flyers now have 38 points in the PJHL Stobbs Division. The Rockets are tied for seventh place with 16 points.
Cody Schneider's goal at 15:52 of the first period put Leamington on the board first. Spencer Allen tied it up for Strathroy before the first intermission.
Maddux Rychel provided the Flyers with a 2-1 lead with a power play goal in the second period. Otherwise, the middle frame was marked with fights. Five Flyers players were issued misconducts for assorted offences, and four from Strathroy.
Things were calmer in the third period, and Griffin Robinson scored an power play goal for Leamington at 10:25. Allen scored again for the Rockets at 11:44 but Strathroy was unable to even things up.
Noah Hedrick had 19 saves for the win in net for Leamington. Joshua Diamond had 32 saves for Strathroy.
Strathroy hosts Chatham Saturday night, while the Flyers host Sarnia Sunday afternoon.
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Reid Stieler had two assists in the Amherstburg Integrity Admirals' 4-2 win over the Flyers in Petrolia.
The Admirals are in third place in the Stobbs Division with 34 points, one behind the Lakeshore Canadiens. The Flyers have 27 points and are in sixth place.
Kole Keating put Petrolia on the board first at 5:03 in the first frame. The Addys tied it up later in the period when Ryan Holzel found the net.
There was no scoring in the second period but the Admirals had three unsuccessful three power play chances. Petrolia broke the tie early in the third period on a goal by Mark McNally. Amherstburg scored three unanswered goals after that to take the lead for good. Kyle Meloche, Dylan Muzzatti and Caleb Paquette were the scorers for the Admirals.
Ben Larder had 30 saves out of 32 attempts for the win in net for Amherstburg. Riley Collins took the loss for Petrolia and had 28 saves.
The Admirals visit the Blenheim Blades Sunday, while Petrolia travels to Wallaceburg on Wednesday night.