67’s fall 5-3 to Generals

OTTAWA – Josh Graves scored at the 17:10 mark in the third period to help lead the Oshawa Generals to a 5-3 victory over the Ottawa 67’s.

The two teams came out of the gate competing at the same level, but it wasn’t until the 13:05 mark in the 1^st period when something tangible happened.  After blocking a shot in the Generals zone, Scott Laughton picked up the puck to and skated down the other side of the ice creating a 2-on-1 break.  With a perfect pass to Christian Thomas, he shot it top shelf over Petr Mrazek for the lead.

In his first game back from missing the last three weeks with a concussion, Sean Monahan grabbed a loose puck and knocked it past Daniel Altshuller to tie the game with 33 seconds gone the second period.

The Gens would respond after Nicklas Jensen scored through traffic on the short side for Oshawa’s second lead of the game.  Just over one minute later and with an extra attacker on a delayed call, the 67’s would tie it up off a bullet shot from Remy Giftopolous who was standing high in the slot.

Back-and-forth play continued as both teams had some quality scoring chances for the rest of the game but the goaltenders stood on their heads.

Seven minutes into the final frame, Dalton Smith gave the 67’s their first lead of the game with thanks to some terrific work from Jake Cardwell who deked the Oshawa defender and fed Smith a beautiful lead pass.  Again, the Gens would respond under a minute later.  Daniel Maggio fired a shot from the point past Mrazek to regain the one goal lead.

Finally, with less than 3 minutes to go in the game, Josh Graves would score as the puck trickled under Mrazek after he stopped a blank shot from Gens newcomer Peter Hermenegildo.  Boone Jenner sealed the deal by scoring on the empty net moments later.  This marks the 67’s second loss to the Generals this season and moves their head-to-head record to 1-2-0-0.

NEXT GAME:
On Sunday, the 67’s will travel to the K-Rock Centre to face the Kingston Frontenacs at 2pm.
Meanwhile, the Generals will be a little down the 401 taking on the Belleville Bulls, also at 2pm.

67’s power past IceDogs 5-2

(Ottawa 67’s Fan Blog link here)

OTTAWA – Tyler Toffoli and Shane Prince combined for 9 points in a 5-2 victory over the Niagara IceDogs in front of a crowd of 6,382 on Canadian Forces Day.

The 67’s started out of the gate early scoring 3 goals in the first seven minutes of the game.  Tyler Toffoli got the 67’s on the board after a nicely executed tic-tac-toe play.  Cody Ceci picked up the puck at the half boards and passed it to Shane Prince who fed Toffoli in the slot.  Less than two minutes later, Prince gave the 67’s a two-goal lead wristing a powerful shot from the hashmarks.  And then, just over two minutes later, Prince notched his 2^nd of the game and 11^th of the season after shooting the puck past Mark Visentin in close on stick side.

After allowing 3 goals on 4 shots, Visentin was quickly pulled and replaced by Christopher Festarini.  This mixed up the course of the game and the IceDogs came out stronger after the first period.  Festarini was solid when he needed to be, but the story was on the other side of the ice.  By the end of two, the IceDogs were leading on the shot clock 28-16.  Mrazek had to come up big on a couple of great scoring chances the rest of the game.

One goal got past Festarini when Prince did some great work handling the puck behind the net and snapping it to Toffoli who was right out front.  That goal would mark Toffoli’s 2nd of the night.

After coming in fast, Andrew Agozzino roofed it high on Petr Mrazek to get the IceDogs on the board.

The 67’s ran into penalty trouble but were able to keep the damage low until Remy Giftopolous was in the box for hooking.  Alex Friesen wired a shot from the point which hit an Ottawa 67’s player near the net and redirected past Mrazek to cut the lead in half.

The IceDogs kept pressing firing a total of 45 shots at Mrazek, but were unable to solve him again.  Toffoli rounded out the scoring with his 3^rd of the game and 24^th of the season into an empty net.

NEXT GAMES:
The Ottawa 67’s host the Oshawa Generals on Friday, November 25^th @ 7:30pm
The Niagara IceDogs host the Brampton Battalion on Thursday, November 24^th @ 7:00pm

NEWS AND NOTES:  Shorthanded, the 67’s played with 15 skaters … Sean Monahan and Taylor Fielding are expected to be back practicing with the team this week … The 67’s were 3/0 on the powerplay and held the IceDogs to 1/4 on the powerplay … Alex Friesen extended his point streak to 8 games … Dougie Hamilton extended his point streak to 6 games.

Hounds edge 67’s 3-2

(Ottawa 67’s Fan Blog link here)

OTTAWA – Nick Halagian scored his first OHL career goal to help lead the Soo Greyhounds to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa 67’s.

The 67’s flew out of the gate early.  Tyler Toffoli opened the scoring with a high shot in the slot over the newly acquired Jack Campbell.  That marked Toffoli’s 15^th of the season.

With Dalton Smith in the box for delay of the game (the first of four on the night), Tyler Graovac picked up a puck that rebounded off Nicholas Foglia.  He skated in untouched and fired a high shot past Campbell on the short side for an early two goal lead.

The Hounds responded with two quick goals.  Nick Cousins deked out Petr Mrazek to get the Hounds on the board.  Only 25 seconds later, Brett Findlay wired a shot from the top of the faceoff circle and got the puck past a screened Mrazek to tie the game at 2.

The two quick goals seemed to kill the 67’s momentum as they things got a little sloppy after the first period.  Tyler Toffoli got one of the 67’s best chances in the second period beating Campbell in close but hitting the puck off the crossbar.  Play carried the other way and Halagian picked up the eventual game winning goal.

The Hounds ran into some penalty trouble off of some undisciplined plays, but the Hounds managed to kill off three straight penalty kills in the third period.  Both goaltenders played solid at their ends of the ice.  The 67’s turned it up in the last half of the period but couldn’t solve Campbell.  With the goaltender pulled and 5 seconds left, Toffoli had the best opportunity to tie the game, but rang it off the post.

NOTES:  Gianluca Curcuruto was a late scratch after sustaining a bad charley horse versus Kingston … Shane Prince and Jake Cardwell ended their 6 game point streak after being held pointless today … Chris Byrne tried to switch up the lines to create some offense by demoting Shane Prince and Sean Monahan and moving up Tyler Graovac and Dalton Smith to the first line to replace them.

THREE STARS:
1. Nick Cousins
2. Tyler Graovac
3. Jack Campbell

Prince, Ceci lead 67’s to 5-1 win over Attack

OTTAWA – With only twenty-one seconds into the first period, Owen Sound Captain Mike Halmo surged into the Ottawa zone and ripped a shot over Petr Mrazek’s shoulder for the lead.  It was the last thing the 67’s wanted after coming off a disappointing 6-5 overtime loss to the Belleville Bulls Wednesday night where they gave up a four goal lead.

The first five minutes was not the 67’s best hockey – Mrazek looked shaky and the team in front of him did not register a shot until the 14.5 minute mark.  The 67’s regrouped and Mrazek came back to form after gaining more confidence off a good couple saves.

Ben Dubois got the 67’s on the board with his second shorthanded goal of the season while Steven Janes serving a 2-minute minor for goaltender interference.  The 67’s had a couple more key chances near the end of the period beating goaltender Jordan Binnington on a rebound but ringing the puck off the post.

On an early powerplay in the second period, Shane Prince grabbed a loose puck out of mid-air and tapped it past Binnington for his fifth of the year.

Some great plays continued on both sides with both goaltenders needing to be sharp.  Again, the 67’s hit their second post of the game after Binnington made a great stick save.

The 67’s continued to press and the Attack progressively got more frustrated as the game went on.  The Attack took a couple careless penalties including one that lead the 67’s third goal and Shane Prince’s second of the night.  Cody Ceci wired a shot from the point which got redirected by Prince’s tip in.

Frustrations continued for the Attack.  Only a couple moments later, Steven Janes was awarded a penalty shot after being taken on a breakaway, but he failed to score and Binnington made a solid stop to keep the 67’s to a two-goal lead.

Tensions boiled over leading to a fight between Ryan Van Stralen and Kuris Gabriel.  The decision was given to Van Stralen, but Van Stralen was also given a game misconduct after removing the Gabriel’s helmet.  He could face supplement discipline once reviewed by Dave Branch.

Two slashing penalties within minutes of each other put the Attack in another bad position.  On the two-man advantage, Tyler Toffoli beat Binnington short side and the 67s were up 4-1.  More scrums ensued after the whistle but not much came from it.  Steven Janes rounded out the scoring with an empty net goal to seal the 5-1 win.

THREE STARS:

1. Shane Prince – 2 goals, 1 assist
2. Cody Ceci – 3 assists
3. Ben Dubois –  1 goal, 1 assist

NOTES: 
Shane Prince and Jake Cardwell extended their point streak to 6 games each … Marc Zanetti was skating today but was limited with a boot cast … Shayne Campbell is still injured while Karsten Pankhurst fills in … Brett Gustavesen was not play due to an undisclosed injury … Cameron Brace was hit with a highstick from his own teammate and stayed on the ice for a while – he stayed in the game … Rookie Artur Gavrus took a hit from behind early in the game, was a little woozy, but also stayed in the game.

NEXT GAMES:
Saturday, Owen Sound @ Belleville Bulls, 7:05pm
Sunday, Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds @ Ottawa 67’s, 2pm