Game Recap at Belleville (12-Jan)

67s win 3-1 over the Bulls - and on the road to boot. See OHL game summary here.

IN THE NEWS (** Updated by Sid 1.13.2005 **)
The Bulls have a game summary on their site (link). From SLAM! Sports, 67's tame Bulls. And Paul Svoboda from the Belleville Intelligencer writes, Bulls lose 3-1. A snippet [emphasis added]:

Bulls dropped a 3-1 decision to the Ottawa 67’s in a chippy Ontario Hockey League tussle at Yardmen Arena Wednesday night, with the visitors taking over sole possession of second place in the East Division.

[. . .]

Bulls came roaring out of the gate to score the game’s first goal at 5:11, continued to press in the opening period, but sagged considerably in the second.

“We had a great start, lots of energy and we played physically,” said Burnett. “Then we started to turn the puck over, got into some penalty trouble — rightly or wrongly — and in the second period we didn’t compete. We played frustrated and we didn’t initiate enough. It was disappointing to take a step backwards after a positive weekend.

“The game was probably summed up in the second period when they skated and we watched them.”

[. . .]

Ottawa coach Brian Kilrea praised 67’s goaltender Anthony Guadagnolo who took over for starter Danny Bottochio after just 53 seconds of the first period. Bottochio, battling a wonky shoulder, fell awkwardly during a close-in Bulls scoring chance, and was forced to leave the game.

Bulls outshot Ottawa 41-34 with Guadagnolo making some sterling stops.

“No doubt he was the star,” said Kilrea. “He went out when he was called into duty. I give him credit for standing tall against a pretty good Belleville power play. This was his game.”

PRE-GAME NOTES
The game was broadcast on The TEAM 1200/Dave Schreiber and AJ Jakubec. Pre-game interview with Killer by Schreibs [paraphrasing]: On no further trades - We looked and listened but nothing I felt would make us any stronger. On the game with Toronto (Sunday) – It was an important game because we’re going to be fighting them in the playoffs. On tonight’s game with Belleville - We had a good practice yesterday. We’ll be ready. On Staubitz on the blue line - Played excellent; has a low boiling point; works well with Colbert. On VanderVeeken up front - He’ll fit in well. He’s a big strong kid. He has a tendency to cruise a little. Hope that he’ll learn to play every shift.

LINE UPS
1st Bickell, Petruzalek, Kaspar
2nd VanderVeeken, Bonello, Mancari
3rd Akeson, Talbot, Hulit
4th Lawrance, McGinn, Alphonso
Defence pairings - Colbert, Staubitz; Reid, Joslin; Van Herpt, Jarram
Starting in net - Battochio
Sitting out - McIlvene (sent back to Junior B/Waterloo), Beard (inj-shoulder), Ouellette (inj-mono), Lahey (healthy scratch)

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS - AUDITORY
First period. A bit of a shaky start for the 67s. Battochio coming up with some big saves early on. The Bulls have three shots on goal only 1 minute in. Oh oh . . . Battochio is down on the ice – the trainer has come out to attend to him. It appears to be his shoulder. Guadagnolo has come in to relieve him. First penalty goes to the Bulls. Let’s see what they can do on the PP. Not good. Okay, now a penalty for Ottawa. Let’s see what they do on the PK. Not good. Bulls score. SOG 7-3 in favour of the Bulls at this point. Oh oh . . . defence is “sloppy” – letting Bulls get through. Sounds like the Bulls are being more physical – blocking the body and the passes. SOG now 8-7 in favour of the Bulls. And now another PP for the 67s. (Maksym (BEL) hits Staubitz) And Staubitz scores on the PP! “The first thing he did after scoring, is tell Maksym thanks,” says AJ. Staubitz’ first goal as an Ottawa 67s. Some pushing and shoving with Jarram and Davey (BEL) - Davey's got his helmet on, so Jarram is hitting his helmet. And another fight with Alphonso and Baker (BEL). According to AJ, Alphonso got high-sticked on the play, then went to retaliate by hitting Baker (BEL), who didn’t like that and hit back. Davey got a misconduct (2, 5, and 10), but both Jarram and Davey still in the game. Staubitz and Maksym at it again – Staubitz apparently tripped Maksym on his way off the ice (chorus of boos heard in the background). Another penalty – Colbert dumped. And so on . . .

Second period. More of the same. Injury update coming from the first intermission interview – Battochio’s likely re-injured his shoulder – yikes . . . likely out for a good long time. Not good news. I guess we’ll get to see what Spezza’s got going on. Petruzalek scores off of a great pass by Kaspar. Puts the 67s in the lead, 2-1. It's good to see these guys score. Then Bickell scores, “top shelf where mama keeps the peanut butter,” Schreibs says. From another Kaspar pass. Kaspar has assisted in each of the three goals tonight. Good for him. Another fight – Beleskey (BEL) and Reid. AJ says that they’ve been at each other all night. AJ states, “The 67s have taken control in the latter half of the second period . . . I can’t say enough about the dynamic of the Ottawa defense . . . They can all play physical. It’s that much more difficult to get some real estate in front of the Ottawa goal.” “A good period by the 67s,” says Schreibs. “Belleville had some chances . . . but Guadagnolo very sharp in the period. A good period, and a good road game by the 67s,” says AJ. It does sound like the 67s picked it up a bit after the Bickell goal.

Third period. Ottawa starts the period with a problem getting the puck out of their zone. Kill off a penalty to Petruzalek. Then Petruzalek gets another penalty for retaliating (#2). “He’s not helping his team,” says Schreibs. “He put Rancourt in a headlock, taking off his helmet,” says AJ. Another Ottawa penalty – interference by Petruzalek (#3). “Great work by Mark Mancari on the PK,” says Schreibs. They got through that penalty. “Hulit’s had to kill a lot of penalties in the third,” says Schreibs. “Mancari was hauled down, but no call. Another brutal non-call. Not one of Parks’ better nights.” (I guess Park doesn’t have a “special relationship” with Killer yet.) “They played a very strong third period. Win a road game. Win a big division game.”

SCORING
OTTAWA
1, Staubitz, (Kaspar, Petruzalek), 13:10 (PP)
2, Petruzalek, (Jarram, Kaspar), 06:19
2, Bickell, (Kaspar, Joslin), 14:09

BELLEVILLE
1, Maksym, (Rancourt, Rorabeck), 05:11 (PP)

THREE STARS
OHL three stars were: 1. Guadagnolo, 2. Maksym (BEL), and 3. Kaspar.

The TEAM 1200 there stars were: 1. Staubitz (physical presence on blue line, scored a huge goal after Ottawa had fallen behind, single-handedly turned game around, stabilizing presence in the defensive zone, limited Belleville to a lot of long shots), 2. Guadagnolo (very solid, 2 wins in a row, stopping 37/38), and 3. Kaspar (three assists tonight, great passes, engineering all goals tonight). “A 67s sweep,” says Schreibs.

REFFING
Park.

ATTENDANCE
2364.

MISCELLANEOUS
Jeff Hunt has called a press conference for tomorrow morning. Speculation by Schreibs is that he will announce another WJ bid.

NEXT UP
At home vs Peterborough this Friday (1.14.2005), supposedly a night for revenge (against their previous meeting, last Saturday).