Game Recap at Kinston (06-Feb)

They did it! Ottawa finally beat Kinston, with a score of 5-2. See OHL game summary here. And the Fronts have a game summary here.

IN THEN NEWS
From the Ottawa Sun by Barre Campbell, 67's on road to recovery. Snippets:

"On Friday, we looked dead, but (yesterday) we looked like we wanted to be here," said goalie Anthony Guadagnolo, who relieved starter Matthew Spezza in the third period. "We knew how important the game was and we brought it to them."

[. . .]

Rookie defenceman Derek Joslin made a couple of great plays in his own zone to bust up Kingston scoring chances and worked well to neutralize world junior star Anthony Stewart, who was held off the scoresheet.

[. . .]

"After they tied it up in the third, we were all looking at each other on the bench and were saying that this was our game and that we had to win," said Mancari, who gave the 67's a 2-0 lead after Jakub Petruzalek opened the scoring with the only goal of the first.

67's coach/GM Brian Kilrea emphasized he didn't make the goalie change because he felt Spezza played poorly.

"(The Frontenacs) seemed to be getting a head of steam going," said Kilrea. "I thought I would slow it down a touch, make the change and take the time to let the guys compose themselves."

[. . .]

"We were really high-intensity," said Guadagnolo, "and that's what we need to beat a team like that."

And from the Kingston Whig-Standard Claude Scilley writes, Frontenacs in Major trouble. This is a really great piece that touches on the confidence issue that plagues the 67s, and seemingly the Fronts. I’m going to post a bit of it here.

They could have been tied for second place, setting their sights on the East division-leading Peterborough Petes.

Instead, after losing 5-2 to the Ottawa 67’s yesterday, the Kingston Frontenacs have to worry about their backs.

The red-hot St. Michael’s Majors, winners of their last four games and eight of their last 10, are just three points in arrears of the Frontenacs, who suddenly cling precariously to the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Such is life in the East division, where both the Frontenacs and 67’s reside: Play well enough some days to look like contenders, poorly enough on others to look like bums, but mostly rest comfortably in the arms of mediocrity, never far from either glory or a crisis.

“The problem is there are so many teams that are equal,” said 67’s coach Brian Kilrea. “No one’s going to run away, so all of a sudden you’ve got a game you think you should win, and you lose.

“You don’t get confidence.”

Confidence, Kilrea said, is a delicate and fleeting commodity with teenage hockey players, and establishing consistency becomes difficult for coaches who can’t instill [sic] it in their athletes.

“It’s tough,” he said, “because the guys you think are going to get you over the hump, they end up having bad nights, too. It’s consistent, right through the league, with the exception of London and maybe Owen Sound.”

Frontenacs coach Jim Hulton said “there’s no real rhyme or reason” to the phenomenon.

He also spoke of experience.

“If I look at my lineup up front, in terms of years of experience, there’s not a lot, and that contributes to it,” he said. “With experience comes their ability to stay focused.

“A lot of times, it’s not lack of effort or energy [that leads to defeat]. Sometimes it’s focus on staying on task with what you have to do.”

And Scilley also includes both coaches’ perspective of the game. Interesting to see how each viewed the different plays, and how they contributed to their team’s win/loss. A good piece.

PRE-GAME NOTES
The game was broadcast on the TEAM 1200/Dave Schreiber and AJ Jakubec.

Pre-game interview with Asst. Coaches Bert O’Brien and Vince Malette on the TEAM 1200/Schreibs:

Bert on what happened on Friday: Brampton outworked us, right off the bat. We were out-shot badly. We didn’t come out ready to play and that’s been a habit that’s been happening far too often. It seems that if we play well, then we come back and have a stinker. Anthony [Guadagnolo] is the one that saved the game in Brampton. He had a stellar night. This last game he was not bad, but not like the other game. The defence was god awful. We didn’t do any scoring. Ouellette was the only one scoring, and after being off a month with mono. That tells you how bad we were.

Vince on what they need to do to beat the Fronts: We have to work hard. We’re in their building, and their goalie is good. We need to get going early, get all lines going, and have the defence play solid. We have to get to the net, with lots of traffic, get the rebounds – the goalie lets out a lot of rebounds. We can’t allow odd-man rushes. We have to be solid in our end, and take the body.

Bert on Spezza: We can only say good things about him. He has played well for us in his two games; two great games for him. Hopefully he has one good one left for us. If we play as badly as we have the last two games, he’s going to have to come up big for us.

LINE UPS
Forwards: Bickell, Petruzalek, Kaspar; McGinn, Bonello, Mancari; VanderVeeken, Talbot, Hulit (started); Ouellette
Defence pairings: Colbert, Staubitz; Joslin, Reid; Lawrance, Beard; Jarram
Starting in goal: Spezza. Guadagnolo on the bench.
Scratches: Alphonso (inj-flu), Akeson (inj-Achilles), Battochio (inj-shoulder), Lahey (inj-concussion), and Van Herpt (inj-ankle).

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS (AUDITORY)
It seems like the 67s rebounded after their loss Friday night, finally winning over Kingston. I was a little worried in the third, when Kingston tied the game with two quick goals, but Ottawa didn’t fold – and went on to score 2 more, plus an EN. Good for them. Here are some notes I made while listening to the game on TEAM 1200.

First period. SOG were 5-4 9 minutes into the period. This is definitely better than what they had on Friday night (2 SOG 9 minutes in). It sounded like both teams were playing physical. Some good chances on each side. And good saves by both Spezza and Davis. Goals scored by Petruzalek (who stripped the puck off of Shutron (KIN) when his stick broke). At the end of the period, the 67s were out-shot 12-9 by the Fronts, but up 1G. They were 0/2 on PP, but they also kept Kingston from scoring on their PP opportunity.

Second period. Mancari scored an “opportunistic goal,” with a nice assist by McGinn. It sounded like McGinn was having another great game. I thought that he was the best Ottawa player on Friday night, and it seems as if he is continuing to be strong. The 67s continued to play well on the PK (2).

Third period. After Kingston tied the game with two quick goals by Bolt and Griffith, Killer put Guadagnolo in net. I’m sure this was upsetting for Spezza, but it seemed more of a way to settle the guys down, slow down the game, etc. It was only 2 goals, but with the current group of 67s, you never know how they’ll handle it – bounce back or deflate. Seemed to be a good coaching maneuvre. Bickell and Bonello scored, to regain the 2 goal lead. “What a deke by Brad Bonello . . . he undressed Dayne Davis”, Schreibs yells. The Fronts pulled Davis with 2 minutes left in the game. And then Bickell gets another goal. When Bickell shot at the empty net, a Kingston player threw his stick, successfully blocking the shot. But because he threw the stick, Bickell was awarded the goal.

So, they win 5-2; Bickell has a 2G game; they go 0/2 on PP, but stop Kingston from scoring on their PP (0/4); Spezza stopped 22/24 SOG he faced; and Guadagnolo stopped all SOG (17/17) and got an A to boot!

SCORING
OTTAWA
1, Petruzalek, (19) , 17:35
2, Mancari, (23) (McGinn), 12:34
3, Bickell, (18) (Kaspar, Beard), 04:55
3, Bonello, (17) (Guadagnolo, Mancari), 09:43
3, Bickell, (19) , 19:08 (EN)

KINGSTON
3, Bolt, (10) (Hughes), 02:10
3, Griffith, (23) (Williams, Nemeth), 03:20

THREE STARS
OHL three stars were: (1) Petruzalek, (2) Bickell, and (3) Griffith (KIN).

TEAM 1200 three stars were: (1) Joslin (great on the blue line; looked like a veteran; saved goals on a couple of occasions), (2) Petruzalek (outstanding game today; he was all over the place; outstanding offensive skills), and (3) McGinn (looks like a veteran; an absolute star; he’s going to be something in this league).

REFFING
Oakman.

ATTENDANCE
1839.

NEXT UP
Away at Peterborough this Thursday night, 7:00pm (2.10.2005).
At home vs Mississauga this Friday night, 7:30pm (2.11.2005).
At home vs Belleville this Sunday afternoon, 2:00pm (2.13.2005).