Gabriel Valenzuela and Will Reilly both scored but it was not enough as the Toronto Jr. Canadiens rallied past the North York Rangers 4-2 on Sunday.
Gianluca Baggetta made 31 saves as the Rangers had their three-game win streak snapped.
Afterward, North York bench boss Mark Joslin was disappointed with the fact that his club was outworked on the afternoon.
“We were outcompeted today,” he said.
“I feel for the guys in one sense that that we have a lot of injuries and illnesses, a flu bug going around and stuff like that, but after playing so well against a team like Oakville on Friday and then come here and playing like this where we stopped working after getting up, it’s tough. We didn’t make them earn anything they just took it from us and it’s tough.”
Valenzuela got the hosts off to a good start by snapping home his 23rd of the year with five seconds left on the clock in the first period.
Reilly made it 2-0 3:12 into the middle frame when his power play one-timer deflected in past Toronto goaltender Nathan Colitto.
And then the trouble started.
Luca Farrace’s point shot beat Baggetta off the post and in on the power play at the 18:06-mark of the second period, and then Nicholas Jarzabek tied the game 10:19 into the third by jamming in a rebound from in tight.
Jarzabek swiped home the go-ahead goal seven minutes later, and Aaron Spivak slapped in an empty netter to seal it with 23 seconds left on the clock.
“We just have to regroup here,” said Joslin, who expects to have Kyle Cochrane back in the line-up Wednesday.
“We could have separated ourselves from the Jr. Canadiens, but now it’s a rat race. We gave them life, so it’s a very disappointing loss in that we are so close in the standings.”
North York is back in action on Wednesday night when they host the Mississauga Chargers. Puck drops as the Herb Carnegie Centennial Arena at 8 p.m.
