Wolves complete series sweep with win over 67’s

 OTTAWA – It’s all over for the Ottawa 67’s.   The Wolves scored 4 straight goals to beat the 67’s 5-3 in front of a disappointed home crowd of 6,047.  The win ended the 67’s playoff run as the Wolves swept the first round series 4-0 to secure a birth into the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

The 67’s came out of the gate with a lot of energy and controlling much of the pace of the game.  Shane Prince was left wide open on a 3-on-2 rush and made a great move to beat Valiquette to get the 67’s on the board first.

There was no love lost between these two Eastern Conference opponents as both teams continued to play very physical.  Jake Cardwell got into a lengthy tilt with Mike MacDonald.  With them still in the box, Marcus Foligno gets tossed out of the game after taking a 5 minute major for a check to the head of defenceman Adam Sedlak.  Sedlak was helped off the ice and did not return.  The hit will be reviewed and Foligno could face further disciplinary action. 

The 5 minute penalty kill didn’t phase the Wolves as Michael Sgarbossa continued his dominance and scored shorthanded 2 minutes in to tie the game at 1 from a big one-timer from the point.  The Wolves would continue to kill off the major until Frank Corrado takes a penalty for holding. The 67’s would get the lead back when Dalton Smith scored right off the face-off.

Things were looking up for the 67’s.  Dalton Smith would score his second of the game at 14:03 in the second period to extend the 67’s lead to 3-1.  However, a couple minutes later, Joshua Leivo would score the Wolves second short-handed goal of the game to cut the lead to one.

Just under 6 minutes into the 3^rd period, Sgarbossa continued his hot hand and wrists one in from the slot for his second goal of the game.  This tied up the game and marked the second straight game the 67’s gave up a two goal lead.  Things would continue to get worse for the 67’s when the Wolves went up 4-3 midway through the 3^rd.  Josh McFadden notched his 4th of the playoffs off a shot from the point which deflected off of Martindale’s stick and in behind Petr Mrazek.

A solid performance by Valiquette and a bit of help from the posts, from then on in the Wolves shut the door and dominated most of the play.  With the final seconds looming, Ottawa-native Eric O’Dell would seal the deal with an empty net goal.  As final buzzer sounded to end the game, it also sounded on the OHL careers of 67’s Captain Thomas Nesbitt and veteran leaders Cody Lindsay and Travis Gibbons. 
The Sudbury Wolves move on to face the top ranked Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.  The Wolves will open up round two on the road.  Dates and times will be announced by the OHL by Monday.

GAME DAY PREVIEW: Sudbury Wolves (7) @ Ottawa 67’s (2) – Game 4

Radio: 580 CFRA (Ottawa), 95.5 KFM (Sudbury).
TV: Rogers 22 (Ottawa), EastLinkTV (Sudbury)

Sudbury leads series 3-0

An unlikely hero, Josh McFadden scored three times including the game tying goal with 16.6 seconds left in the extra frame to lead the Sudbury Wolves to a 5-4 defeat of the favoured Ottawa 67’s.  It was easily the 67’s best game of the series, but the Wolves were able to capitalize on their chances as the 67’s ran into some penalty trouble in the final period.

The Ottawa 67’s return home for their first actual home game at the RONA Centre in this series.  Game 1 was played at a neutral Scotiabank Place site in Kanata, Ontario due to a scheduling conflict at the RONA Centre.  The 67’s may be down 3-0 in the opening round vs the Sudbury Wolves, but they can look to their regular season home record for some hope.  The 67’s were unstoppable at home posting a 25-5-4, good for third best in the league.

It might not look good right now for the 67’s, but they have some stats on their side.  The 67’s longest losing streak of the season was only 4 games and happened once when Ottawa was in the middle of a 6-game road swing back in the end of February.  They went on to win 5 straight games and 9 games undefeated in regulation.  Meanwhile, the Wolves have only been able to string together a 4 game winning streak once this season which happened back at the beginning of February.

While it’s not common for teams to comeback from being down 3-0, it is not impossible.  Just last season the Windsor Spitfires rallied from a 3-0 deficit to the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL Western final. The Spitfires went on win the J Ross Robertson Cup (OHL title) and Memorial Cup.

Keys to the game for both teams would be to come out of the gate early.  The Wolves will look to silence a boisterous Ottawa crowd while the 67’s will look to get an early lead to build off momentum.  The Wolves will need to continue to capitalize on their chances, while the 67’s need to stay out of the box.  While the Wolves PP has not been as good in the playoffs, they were still ranked #1 in the league during the regular season and have managed to capitalize on them in clutch moments in the game.

Though 6 points in 3 games is nothing to scoff at, Tyler Toffoli and the 67’s big guns need to step up.  The top line has only managed to combine for a total of 10 points and Shane Prince has yet to record a point in his two games so far.

They may be down, but they are not out.  As Dalton Smith tweeted, “In shock. But still believing. Its a huge hill to climb. Let’s take it one step at a time.”  And that’s what the 67’s will have to do – take it one game at a time.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Ottawa 4 @ Sudbury 5 (Mar 29 2011) Final OT
Ottawa 3 @ Sudbury 5 (Mar 28 2011) Final
Sudbury 8 @ Ottawa 7 (Mar 26 2011) Final OT

LINEUP CHANGES

Ottawa 67’s
Nicholas Foglia, flu, day-to-day **expected to return for game 4
Tyler Graovac, fractured arm, indefinite
Travis Gibbons, lower body, indefinite
Jon Carnevale, concussion, IR
Cosimo Fontana, concussion, IR

Sudbury Wolves
Cody Mintz (scratch in games 1-3)
Jeff Corbett (scratch in games 1-3)
Alex Racino (scratch in games 1-3)

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Ottawa 67’s
Tyler Toffoli – 3 goals, 6 points in 3 games
Thomas Nesbitt – 2 goals, 5 points in 3 games
Ryan Martindale – 3 goals, 4 points in 3 games
Sean Monahan – 2 goals, 4 points in 3 games

Sudbury Wolves
Michael Sgarbossa – 2 goals, 10 points in 3 games
Andrey Kuchin – 5 goals, 8 points in 3 games
Joshua Leivo – 3 goals, 8 points in 3 games

NHL DRAFT PICKS

Ottawa 67’s
Tyler Toffoli (Los Angeles Kings round 2, #47 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
Ryan Martindale (Edmonton Oilers round 3, #61 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
Dalton Smith (Columbus Blue Jackets round 2, #34 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
Petr Mrazek (Detroit Red Wings round 5, #141 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
Eligible 2011: Shane Prince (35th in CS’ North American Skaters midterm ranking)

Sudbury Wolves
Marcus Foligno (Buffalo Sabres round 4, #104 overall, 2009 NHL Entry Draft)
Eric O’Dell (Anaheim Ducks round 2, #39 overall, 2008 NHL Entry Draft)

SCHEDULE

Game 5: Sat., April 2 at Ottawa 2:00 *if necessary
Game 6: Mon., April 4 at Sudbury 7:30 *if necessary
Game 7: Tues., April 5 at Ottawa 7:00 *if necessary

Lomas scores overtime thriller to sink 67’s

If things couldn’t have gotten any worse for the Ottawa 67’s, it just did.  With just 33 seconds into the overtime period, Mike Lomas scored in the slot to seal a 5-4 victory and 3-0 series lead against the favoured 67’s team in front of a capacity home crowd of 4,427. 

Off the bat, the 67’s came out of the gate with a lot more effort.  It looked like it was a game plan to start hitting the Wolves and playing with much more physicality.  The 67’s were the better team in the first half of the second period outshooting the Wolves 8-2 at one point.  The play evened out as the period wore on.  The Wolves open the scoring half way through the first when Eric O’Dell blasted the puck past Mrazek after a great rush by Schumaker.  Ottawa would tie after a Steven Janes’ bullet shot would beat Valiquette glove side to get the 67’s on the board.  However, Sudbury would regain the lead when Josh McFadden gets his first of three on the game.  He beat Mrazek with a slapshot glove side for the go ahead goal.

Down one goal to start the second period, Sean Monahan grabs a hold of a weak rebound on the short side and makes no mistake to shoot it top shelf, stick side.  The 67’s would get their first lead in game when Ben Dubois received a pretty feed from Steven Janes who was in tight to create a Wolves turnover.  Marc Zanetti would double the score off a shot from the point as Marcus Foligno was in the box for tripping.

The last two periods were all the Wolves.  The 67’s ran into some bad luck when Dubois gets called for a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the boards.  Just seconds later, Dalton Smith takes a double minor due to a highstick to give the Wolves a 58 second 5-on-3.  With the first penalty expiring, McFadden gets his second goal of the game off another slapshot to get the Wolves within one.  McFadden would score his third of the night to tie the game with 16.6 seconds left in the third period.  It was a powerplay goal off a questionable interference call on Adam Sedlak.

The 67’s tried to regroup in the extra frame, but the Wolves momentum was just too much.  The Wolves worked hard on forecheck while Gregory Jambrosich helped create a turnover.  From there Frank Corrado fed Lomas who was right in the slot to win the game for the Wolves.

Ottawa faces first round elimination as game 4 shifts to Ottawa Thursday night at 7:00pm.  This will be the 67’s first actual playoff home game after beginning the series at Scotiabank Place on Saturday afternoon.

Make sure to stop by InTheORadio.com & check out the blog. 
InTheORadio: Bringing you all of the latest news from around the Ontario Hockey League.

GAME DAY PREVIEW: Game 3: Ottawa 67’s (2) @ Sudbury Wolves (7) – 7:30pm

Radio: 580 CFRA (Ottawa), 95.5 KFM (Sudbury).
TV: Rogers 22 (Ottawa)

Sudbury leads series 2-0

If you told most people that the Sudbury Wolves would be up 2-0 going into game 3 of this series, most people wouldn’t believe you.  Game 1 was a bit of a mess on both sides, but Sudbury capitalized on their home ice advantage in game 2.  The Wolves top line of Scarbossa, Kuchin and Leivo have combined for a total of 24 points in 2 games and are dominate every time the step on the ice.

The Sudbury Wolves have done a great job of getting to the puck first and jumping on opportunities they get.  It wasn’t only a lot of saves that Petr Mrazek made, but a lot of quality scoring chances he stood on his head for.  Without Mrazek, the game could have easily been a blowout for the Wolves.

The 67’s admitted to taking the Wolves too lightly.  This isn’t the same team they saw at the beginning of the season.  The Wolves excelled from out of a playoff position into a playoff position in the second half of the season.  You could also look at the 67’s team as one that may have a bit of trouble getting use to 5 new players in the lineup that are fresh off sitting out due to injury.  The loss of veteran leader and solid defenceman Travis Gibbons has definitely hurt them a lot. 

The Wolves have used their speed and skill to get past Ottawa in game 2 and the 67’s have caught themselves playing a chasing game.  The 67’s have fallen right into the game play of the Wolves, instead, they need to focus on their game and how to force Sudbury to follow.

This is a crucial game for the Ottawa 67’s.  No one wants to be down 3-0 approaching a possible elimination game on home ice… not to mention a 3 game deficit is much harder to overcome than a 2 game deficit.  The 67’s will need an early good start in game 3 to try to shift momentum the opposite way.  

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Ottawa 3 @ Sudbury 5 (Mar 28 2011) Final
Sudbury 8 @ Ottawa 7 (Mar 26 2011) Final OT

LINEUP CHANGES

Ottawa 67’s
Tyler Graovac, fractured arm, indefinite
Travis Gibbons, lower body, indefinite
Jon Carnevale, concussion, IR
Cosimo Fontana, concussion, IR

Sudbury Wolves
Cody Mintz (scratch in game 1 & 2)
Jeff Corbett (scratch in game 1 & 2)
Alex Racino (scratch in game 1 & 2)

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Ottawa 67’s
Tyler Toffoli – 3 goals, 6 points in 2 games
Thomas Nesbitt – 2 goals, 4 points in 2 games
Ryan Martindale – 0 goals, 3 points in 2 games
Sean Monahan – 1 goal, 3 points in 2 games

Sudbury Wolves
Michael Sgarbossa – 2 goals, 9 points in 2 games
Andrey Kuchin – 5 goals, 8 points in 2 games
Joshua Leivo – 3 goals, 7 points in 2 games

NHL DRAFT PICKS

Ottawa 67’s
Tyler Toffoli (Los Angeles Kings round 2, #47 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
Ryan Martindale (Edmonton Oilers round 3, #61 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
Dalton Smith (Columbus Blue Jackets round 2, #34 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
Petr Mrazek (Detroit Red Wings round 5, #141 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
Eligible 2011: Shane Prince (35th in CS’ North American Skaters midterm ranking)

 

Sudbury Wolves
Marcus Foligno (Buffalo Sabres round 4, #104 overall, 2009 NHL Entry Draft)
Eric O’Dell (Anaheim Ducks round 2, #39 overall, 2008 NHL Entry Draft)

SCHEDULE

Game 4: Thurs., March 31 at Ottawa 7:00
Game 5: Sat., April 2 at Ottawa 2:00 *
Game 6: Mon., April 4 at Sudbury 7:30 *
Game 7: Tues., April 5 at Ottawa 7:00 *

Mrazek fed to the Wolves in 5-3 loss

SUDBURY – Andrey Kuchin had a pair of goals and an assist to lead the Sudbury Wolves to 5-3 victory over the Ottawa 67’s.   The Wolves top line continues to dominate tallying a combined total of 24 points in 2 games.

The story of the game was not Kuchin and his linemates, but rather the stellar play of Ottawa netminder Petr Mrazek.  After allowing 7 goals on 28 shots in game one, Mrazek bounced back with an outstanding performance stopping 48 of 53 shots fired his way in a losing effort.  Mrazek kept his team in the game giving them a chance to win, without him, the score would have been much more lopsided for the Wolved.

Mike Lomas got the first goal of the game at the 10:02 minute mark of the first period just as the powerplay expired.  Michael Scarbossa found Lomas out front as he shot the puck from the top of the faceoff circle and beat Mrazek high stick side.  With less than a minute left in the opening period, Dalton Smith threaded a pass to Sean Monahan who was left alone on the door step and flipped the puck past Alain Valiquette to even up the score.

The Wolves outshot the 67’s 17-6 in the opening frame and continued to dominate the play in the second.  With Julian Luciani in the box, Andrey Kuchin got his first of the game after deflecting a strange angled pass from Frank Corrado.  Despite being outshot 33-13 after 40 minutes, the 67’s managed to keep a 2-2 tie thanks to a Josh McFadden turnover that led to a Tyler Toffoli’s shorthanded goal with 10 seconds remaining in the period.

In the third period, Scarbossa gave the Wolves the lead by finding open ice and letting go a quick wrist shot that finds its way behind Mrazek.  Just over a minute later Charlie Dodero gets awarded with a penalty shot after being tripped up on a breakaway.  Dodero goes high stick side on Mrazek to get the Wolves an insurance goal.  The 67’s tried to rally after Marc Zanetti scored the team’s second short-handed goal of the game, but that’s all they could manage as Andrey Kuchin scored his second of the game late to seal the deal for the Wolves.

Game 3 is tomorrow in Sudbury at 7:30pm.  It is a must game win game for the 67’s as they could see themselves going down 3-0 when the game returns to Ottawa on Thursday night for game 4.

67’s look to bounce back after OT loss

SUDBURY – The Ottawa 67’s fell to the Sudbury Wolves 8-7 during the extra frame in game 1 action at Scotiabank Place Saturday afternoon. 

 Andrev Kuchin led the way with 3 goals, 2 assists and a +7 rating.  Close behind was linemate Josh Leivo who also had 3 goals, 2 assists but a +6 rating.  The Wolves line (also including Michael Sgarbossa) combined for a total of 16 points on the afternoon.  Ryan Martindale was stellar for the 67’s also scoring a hat trick in the losing cause.  Tyler Toffoli (4 points) and Thomas Nesbitt (3 points) added a pair of goals each.

 The 67’s enjoyed a day off yesterday to help recover from bumps and bruises.  Dalton Smith was speared in opening seconds of the first period by Sudbury captain, Marcus Foligno.  Later in the first period Eric O’Dell received a game misconduct after receiving a boarding call from hitting Tyler Toffoli.

Game 1 saw the return of Cody Lindsay, Thomas Nesbitt, Steven Janes and Julian Luciani to the 67’s lineup.   The 67’s top line received good news as Shane Prince made the trip to Sudbury and is expected to suit up in game 2. 

Being down 1-0 in the series, the 67’s realize the importance of game 2.  Due to scheduling conflicts, the series now shifts to Sudbury for games 2 and 3 on back-to-back nights – Monday and Tuesday.  If they capitalize on home ice advantage, the Wolves could go up 3-0 and return to Ottawa for games 4 & 5 if necessary.  Puck drops at 7:30pm.  Tonight’s game will set the tone for the rest of the series.

LINEUP CHANGES

OTT: Shane Prince, concussion & whiplash, day-to-day (expected to return)
OTT: Tyler Graovac, fractured arm, indefinite
OTT: Travis Gibbons, lower body, indefinite
OTT: Jon Carnevale, concussion, IR
OTT: Cosimo Fontana, concussion, IR
SBY: unknown changes

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Leading scorers
OTT: Tyler Toffoli– 57 goals, 108 points
OTT: Shane Prince– 25 goals, 88 points
OTT: Ryan Martindale– 34 goals, 83 points
SBY: Michael Sgarbossa– 36 goals, 82 points
SBY: Josh McFadden– 19 goals, 72 points
SBY: Marcus Foligno– 23 goals, 59 points

NHL Picks
OTT: Tyler Toffoli (Los Angeles Kings round 2, #47 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
OTT: Ryan Martindale (Edmonton Oilers round 3, #61 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
OTT: Dalton Smith (Columbus Blue Jackets round 2, #34 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
OTT: Petr Mrazek (Detroit Red Wings round 5, #141 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
OTT: Eligible 2011: Shane Prince (35th in CS’ North American Skaters midterm ranking)
SBY: Marcus Foligno (Buffalo Sabres round 4, #104 overall, 2009 NHL Entry Draft)
SBY: Eric O’Dell (Anaheim Ducks round 2, #39 overall, 2008 NHL Entry Draft)
SBY: Ben Chiarot (Atlanta Thrashers round 4, #120 overall, 2009 NHL Entry Draft)

SERIES PREVIEW: Ottawa 67’s (1) vs Sudbury Wolves (7)

Radio: Team 1200 (Ottawa), 95.5 KFM (Sudbury).
TV: Rogers 22 (Ottawa)

The last time these two teams met, the Ottawa 67’s easily cruised past the Sudbury Wolves to a 7-3 victory.  Tyler Toffoli was the player of the game as he put on a 5-point performance including 4 straight Ottawa goals and adding an assist on another.  The Ottawa 67’s were only playing with 15 forwards and for the second straight game, lost a player for the game in the early moments of the first period.  Veteran leader Travis Gibbons caught a slapshot to the face and as broke his ankle as he fell to the ice.  Gibbons had surgery early this week and a timeline is not determined.

Perhaps the 67’s won too easily.  Don’t be surprised to see a much closer series than the regular season series has indicated.  The first time these two teams met was back in September in the second game of the season.  Ottawa skated to a 4-2 win, but the teams both had a much different make up.  In the second and final regular season meeting, the playoff round matchups were already determined.  One can argue that the teams were taking it easy – though the players and staff would disagree.

The Wolves are one of the more improved teams in the league since the second half of the season.  In the first half of the season they were only able to mustard up 8 wins in 25 games, however since after Christmas break, the Wolves have been over .500 with help from veteran leaders Marcus Foligno and Eric O’Dell.

The 67’s boast one of the best top lines in the entire OHL (Prince, Toffoli & Martindale) combining for 116 goals and 279 points.  That being said, Shane Prince has been sidelined with a head injury and is hopeful to return for game 2.  The 67’s have missed 3 of their top 5 scorers for the last couple of games including Prince, Thomas Nesbitt (knee) and Cody Lindsay (jaw).  The 67’s will welcome back both Nesbitt and Lindsay to the lineup this afternoon.  Also expected to return is Steven Janes who scored two goals vs the Wolves in the 4-2 win back in September.

Some would tell you that Petr Mrazek has been the MVP for the Ottawa 67’s over the last season.  He leads the league in the save percentage category with 0.920 making timely saves in the clutch moments of the game.  After being sidelined for several games with a groin injury, the 67’s called upon Shayne Campbell to fill in his duties.  Campbell played on his head while facing some of the top teams in the league.

The Wolves are led by Captain Marcus Foligno who appeared in the World Juniors tournament earlier in the season and is drafted by the Buffalo Sabres.  The undrafted Michael Sgarbossa has emerged this season after being traded from the Saginaw Spirit.  Since the trade he has 62 points in 37 games including a plus/minus rating of +16 on a bottom feeder team.  Another Wolves player having a career year is defenceman, Josh McFadden who has 72 points in 67 games.  Out of those 72 points, 44 of them come on the powerplay.

The Sudbury Wolves have the top powerplay in the OHL with Michael Sgarbossa leading the way netting 15 on the season.  Meanwhile, the 67’s will try to counter that as being the least disciplined team and having the top 4 penalty kill in the OHL.

Head-to-head
Sudbury 3 @ Ottawa 7 (Mar 20 2011) Final
Ottawa 4 @ Sudbury 2 (Sep 25 2010) Final
 

Ottawa 67’s

44-19-3-2, 93 points
2nd Eastern Conference
HOME:  24-5-3-1

Leading scorers
Tyler Toffoli – 57 goals, 108 points
Shane Prince – 25 goals, 88 points
Ryan Martindale – 34 goals, 83 points

Top Performers vs Wolves
Tyler Toffoli – 5 goals, 7 points in 2 games
Sean Monahan – 1 goal, 3 points in 2 games
Ryan Martindale – 0 goals, 3 points in 2 games

NHL Picks
Tyler Toffoli (Los Angeles Kings round 2, #47 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
Ryan Martindale (Edmonton Oilers round 3, #61 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
Dalton Smith (Columbus Blue Jackets round 2, #34 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
Petr Mrazek (Detroit Red Wings round 5, #141 overall, 2010 NHL Entry Draft)
Eligible 2011:  Shane Prince (35th in CS’ North American Skaters midterm ranking)

Lineup changes
Thomas Nesbitt, knee, week-to-week   **expected to return to line-up this afternoon
Cody Lindsay, jaw, day-to-day    **expected to return to line-up this afternoon
Julian Luciani, upper body, day-to-day   **expected to return to line-up this afternoon
Steven Janes, shoulder, day-to- day   **expected to return to line-up this afternoon
Shane Prince, concussion & whiplash, day-to-day
Tyler Graovac, fractured arm, indefinite
Travis Gibbons, lower body, indefinite
Jon Carnevale, concussion, IR
Cosimo Fontana, concussion, IR

Sudbury Wolves

29-35-2-2, 62 points
7th Eastern Conference
AWAY:  13-19-1-1

Leading scorers
Michael Sgarbossa – 36 goals, 82 points
Josh McFadden – 19 goals, 72 points
Marcus Foligno – 23 goals, 59 points

Top performers vs 67’s
Josh McFadden – 2 goals, 3 points in 1 game
Michael Sgarbossa – 1 goal, 2 points in 1 game
Marcus Foligno – 0 goals, 2 points in 1 game

NHL Draft Picks
Marcus Foligno  (Buffalo Sabres round 4, #104 overall, 2009 NHL Entry Draft)
Eric O’Dell (Anaheim Ducks round 2, #39 overall, 2008 NHL Entry Draft)
Ben Chiarot (Atlanta Thrashers round 4, #120 overall, 2009 NHL Entry Draft)

Lineup changes
Unknown

OHL Playoffs Round 1: Ottawa 67’s (2) vs Sudbury Wolves (7)

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

The Ottawa 67’s will face the Sudbury Wolves in the best of seven series beginning on Saturday. March 26, 2011 in Ottawa.  The series will then return to Sudbury for games 2 and 3 on Monday, March 28 and Tuesday, March 29.

Sat., March 26 at Ottawa 2:00 (Scotiabank Place)
Mon., March 28 at Sudbury 7:30
Tues., March 29 at Sudbury 7:30
Thurs., March 31 at Ottawa 7:00
Sat., April 2 at Ottawa 2:00 *
Mon., April 4 at Sudbury 7:30 *
Tues., April 5 at Ottawa 7:00 *

* If necessary

Series preview to come.

Toffoli shines in 67’s playoff preview vs Wolves

Tyler Toffoli scored 4 goals and added an assist to help the 67’s cruise to a 7-3 victory over the Sudbury Wolves.  It looked as if Toffoli was on a mission.  With one game remaining in the regular season, he found himself 2 points behind in the scoring leaders.  After tonight’s game, Toffoli finished with 108 points which was good for sharing the title of top scorer in the OHL with Kitchener’s Jason Akeson. 

 As a first round playoff preview, both teams came out ready to play.  Taylor Fielding netted his first OHL career goal on a partial breakaway to open the scoring.  Later in the first period, Travis Gibbons took a puck to the face after it deflected off of a slapshot.  He fell down awkwardly from the impact and ended up having to be helped off the ice as he favoured his right leg.  Gibbons did not return to the game and was sent to be stitched up and get x-rays done.

 Just as Remy Giftopolous came of the box to end a Wolves 5-on-3 powerplay, Josh McFadden sends in a floater from the point that deflected off something and in past Petr Mrazek to tie up the game

Early in the second period, the 67’s regained the lead with help from Sean Monahan.  After making a nice move coming off the wing, he roofs it up top and in for his 20th of the season.  Brett Gustavsen added an insurance goal after beating Brendan O’Neill burying his own rebound. The back to back action continued as Michael Sgarbossa slid a rebound in past Mrazek to bring the Wolves within one.  Tyler Toffoli added two goals before the end of the period to allow the 67’s to head to the dressing room with a satisfying 5-2 lead.

 To give Mrazek a rest, the 67’s got Shayne Campbell to take over goal duties as the third period began.  He stopped all but one of the 7 shots fired his way.  Toffoli added his hattrick goal just 52 seconds into the period.  At the 4:38 mark, Justin Sefton scored a shorthanded goal to cut the 67’s lead in half.  Toffoli rounded out the scoring with one final goal to finish his 4 tally’s on the night.

 These two teams will face off again on Saturday, March 26^th back in Ottawa.  The playoff opener will be played at Scotiabank Place due to a scheduling conflict at the RONA Centre. 

Game notes:
Toffoli and Akeson will both be awarded with the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy (Top Scorer) and the Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy (Top Scoring RWer) … Remy Giftopoulos was called up to help the depleted Ottawa lineup.  His Junior A team (Gloucester Rangers) is currently awaiting round 2 of their own playoffs to start … The 67’s were forced to play with 14 players once Gibbons went down with an injury.

Toffoli shines in 67’s playoff preview vs Wolves

Tyler Toffoli scored 4 goals and added an assist to help the 67’s cruise to a 7-3 victory over the Sudbury Wolves.  It looked as if Toffoli was on a mission.  With one game remaining in the regular season, he found himself 2 points behind in the scoring leaders.  After today’s game, Toffoli finished with 108 points which was good for sharing the title of top scorer in the OHL with Kitchener’s Jason Akeson. 

As a first round playoff preview, both teams came out ready to play.  Taylor Fielding netted his first OHL career goal on a partial breakaway to open the scoring.  Later in the first period, Travis Gibbons took a puck to the face after it deflected off of a slapshot.  He fell down awkwardly from the impact and ended up having to be helped off the ice as he favoured his right leg.  Gibbons did not return to the game and was sent to be stitched up and get x-rays done.

Just as Remy Giftopolous came of the box to end a Wolves 5-on-3 powerplay, Josh McFadden sends in a floater from the point that deflected off something and in past Petr Mrazek to tie up the game

Early in the second period, the 67’s regained the lead with help from Sean Monahan.  After making a nice move coming off the wing, he roofs it up top and in for his 20th of the season.  Brett Gustavsen added an insurance goal after beating Brendan O’Neill burying his own rebound. The back to back action continued as Michael Sgarbossa slid a rebound in past Mrazek to bring the Wolves within one.  Tyler Toffoli added two goals before the end of the period to allow the 67’s to head to the dressing room with a satisfying 5-2 lead.

To give Mrazek a rest, the 67’s got Shayne Campbell to take over goal duties as the third period began.  He stopped all but one of the 7 shots fired his way.  Toffoli added his hattrick goal just 52 seconds into the period.  At the 4:38 mark, Justin Sefton scored a shorthanded goal to cut the 67’s lead in half.  Toffoli rounded out the scoring with one final goal to finish his 4 tally’s on the night.

These two teams will face off again on Saturday, March 26^th back in Ottawa.  The playoff opener will be played at Scotiabank Place due to a scheduling conflict at the RONA Centre. 

Game notes:
Toffoli and Akeson will both be awarded with the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy (Top Scorer) and the Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy (Top Scoring RWer) … Remy Giftopoulos was called up to help the depleted Ottawa lineup.  His Junior A team (Gloucester Rangers) is currently awaiting round 2 of their own playoffs to start … The 67’s were forced to play with 14 players once Gibbons went down with an injury.