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May 08, 2005

OHL FINALS GAME 2 – Ottawa at London (5.8) – Ottawa Beats London 6-3, Ties Series 1-1

The 67s win 6-3 over the Knights. See OHL’s game summary here and playoff tracker here. See 67s’ playoff page here and pics of Game 2 here.

IN THE NEWS
Some notes from the post-game press conference (and it’s amazing how effusive the coaches are when they win the game), via OHL Playoff Tracker [link]. First Mancari:

"We knew that if we came out and worked hard and stayed out of the penalty box then we had a chance to beat these guys," Mancari said. "A lot of people underestimated us coming into the sixth spot. All we're thinking about is being champions."

And then Killer:

"That was huge for us," said 67's coach Brian Kilrea. "Whatever the guys talked about in the room (in the second intermission) - they seemed like a different team in the third."

From SLAM! Sports Donna Spencer writes, Ottawa downs Knights 6-3 to tie Ontario Hockey League championship series 1-1.

From the London Free Press Jim Cressman writes, Home advantage iced. Some quotes:

"I think everyone in the building found out in the third period they're not just going to roll over and let us take the championship and be content with an automatic Memorial Cup invitation," Knights captain Danny Syvret said.

The Knights and 67's are both in the Memorial Cup, May 21-29 at the JLC, but the 67's said from the start they want to go as OHL champions.

"We're here to win this series, not just to make it respectable," said 67's captain Will Colbert. "We're not here to make it close, we want to win. We know we're in the Memorial Cup, but we want to get there the tough way, the right way."

The 67's aren't daunted by the fact they were 44 points behind the Knights in the regular season, nor by the fact London has been ranked No. 1 in the Canadian Hockey League all season.

"We're not here to waste our time," said 67's goalie Danny Battochio, who faced 45 shots. "We got here with a lot of hard work (when) people underestimated us."

Cressman also writes, 67's much better on the rebound.

From the London Free Press Morris Dalla Costa writes, Magical season can't survive disappearing acts. Snippets:

Most of the 9,090 in attendance at the John Labatt Centre were (insert one of the following: stunned, shocked, speechless, bewildered, catatonic) at the turn of events. They watched Friday as the 67's almost pulled Game 1 out and then watched yesterday as they blitzed the Knights with four third-period goals.

[. . .]

"No one said much after the game," he [Syvret] said. "We realized we didn't play very well. There's not much use going in there and yelling about it. We need to come back in Ottawa and outcompete them."

[. . .]

"It's very heartening," Mancari said. "Sure, with our team we don't have a lot of big names but we work and work and work and that makes a difference. We have a lot of heart. We have nothing to lose out here. We're going to give it everything we have every shift, every period."

From the Ottawa Citizen Chris Yzerman writes, 67's display resilience. A quote from Ouellette:

"Coming into this series, everybody's been looking down on us a lot and not thinking we could do it," 67's centre Pat Ouellette said. "We really opened some eyes up (yesterday)."

From the Ottawa Sun Barre Campbell writes, 67's turn out Knight light. A quote from Reid:

"To tell you the truth, I don't think any of us are really surprised about this," said Ottawa defenceman Elgin Reid. "Everybody's counted us out since the first series. They didn't think we would get through Barrie. They didn't think we were going to get through Sudbury because they were too big and we weren't tough enough, apparently, and if we got through them we'd be too beat up to play against Peterborough, and we swept Peterborough.

"And I think London's done the exactly same thing as every other team that we played us, and that's underestimating us, and underestimating our speed."

And Barre Campbell also writes, 67's sweet talkin' No. 1 pick. Campbell writes that McGinn injured his left wrist in the third period yesterday. He is to be checked today in Ottawa.

From the Toronto Sun Ken Fidlin writes, Kilrea's 67's prove they're up to it. Quote from Killer on picking Couture in the draft after he was passed over:

"Don't wave a red flag at an old bull," Kilrea said.

From the Toronto Sun Terry Koshan writes, Underdogs have their day. Snippet:

Knights coach Dale Hunter whined earlier in the playoffs about opponents taking cheap shots at his star players, but there was the Knights' Jordan Foreman trying to goad European Jakub Petruzalek into a fight in the final minute by repeatedly jabbing him with his stick. Petruzalek ignored Foreman, who received a 10-minute misconduct. Overall, the Knights were undisciplined, going shorthanded 11 times. The 67's scored three times with a man advantage but London was 0-for-6 on power plays.

And Terry Koshan writes, 67's relying on Battochio.

PRE-GAME NOTES
The game was broadcast on radio (TEAM 1200/Dave Schreiber and AJ Jakubec) and television (Rogers Television 22/ Brent Lale, Lara Ralph, Leigh Cunningham, and Rick Doyle). Some notes from Schreibs and AJ:
*67s going with the same line up.
*Dennis was a little better than Battochio, a first for the 67s.
*Game 1 was a big boost for the 67s, showing that they could play with London.
*Prust is back for London.
*During the 2nd intermission, AJ spoke with 67s scout Bill Brown. He said that they met with Logan Couture at today’s game.

PRE-GAME INTERVIEW w/KILLER (AJ)
(Thoughts on Game 1) I thought we worked hard. I think we were a little bit nervous. We didn’t capitalize on the chances we had.

(Did you show Ottawa can play with London?) I think it was important for them to know that they can play with them. We took 3 or 4 needless penalties, I know you always get some.

(Keys to Game 2) Hopefully we play as well as we did. 5-on-5 has been entertaining and even. We need to stay out of the penalty box and work harder.

(On drafting Couture) Well he was rated 1st or 2nd, and what happened is he just started dropping – were teams leery, I don’t know – but when it came to us it was just a decision we had to make. Jeff and I will hopefully convince him to come play. He’s a dominant centreman and he was rated 1st all year. He’s a tremendous hockey player. We’re hoping that we can convince him to play.

(On other picks) Well we picked a RW as our 2nd pick. He came to see us in Belleville and we’re happy that he wanted to come and play with us. We got a defence 3rd, and we took a LW as 4th. We tried to pick a player in every spot.

PRE-GAME INTERVIEW w/ASST COACH BEAULIEU (Schreibs)
(Thoughts on Game 1) I thought we played pretty well. We’re skating well. But I thought in the 2nd we were a little loose. Overall, I was pretty happy and we’ll try to keep the same.

(On the return of Prust) Brandon is a character hockey player. He’s been working hard while he’s been suspended and he’s ready to go.

(Surprised by Ottawa’s performance in Game 1) I thought Ottawa played a good hockey game. We know they had 3 balanced lines, some big players. They got in some penalty trouble like we did, but we were able to capitalize. You can’t take anything for granted.

(On London’s special teams) We work on skill and tactical at the beginning of the week, and then work on special teams at the end of the week. So yes, we’ve worked hard at it. It’s paid off.

(On drafting Corey Syvret) We’re really excited. We’ve known the family for 4 years now. Corey’s totally different from his brother. He’s a big guy, a more physical player, and he has a bit of a nasty side on him.

(On handling the pressure of being Memorial Cup hosts) They’re handling the pressure really well. The streak at the beginning of the season was a blessing for us to learn how to handle it. We really want to go in the front door. This organization has never won the OHL championship. Not taking anything away from Ottawa – they’re a great hockey club – but we want to go in the front door.

LINE UP
OTTAWA
Forwards:
_McGinn, Talbot, Hulit (started)
_Bickell, Bonello, Mancari
_Akeson, Petruzalek, Kaspar
_Lawrance, Ouellette, Alphonso

Defensive Pairings:
_Colbert, Joslin
_Staubitz, Reid
_Van Herpt, Beard

Starting in goal:
_Battochio
_Guadagnolo back-up

Scratches:
_Lahey (inj-conc)
_Spezza (healthy)
_Jarram (healthy)
_VanderVeeken (healthy)

LONDON
Forwards:
_Bolland, C. Perry, Hunter (started)
_Fritsche, Larman, Schremp
_Thomson, Prust, Drummond
_Foreman, A. Perry, Reed

Defensive Pairings:
_Giardi, Syvret
_Methot, Ferry
_McCready, Martinelli

Starting in goal:
_Dennis
_Coleman back-up

Scratches:
_Kell (inj-broken hand)
_Rodney (inj-knee)
_Beaulieu (susp)

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
London came out strong in the first, but Ottawa kept up, getting more steady and putting on more pressure as the period went on. London dominated the second period. You can’t sit back with London, you have to work hard every shift. No lead is safe. Also, they have a couple of snipers on their team (Methot and Syvret’s goals in the 2nd for instance), and a wicked PP where they cross-ice pass in front of the net. It was all Ottawa in the third, scoring 4 unanswered (6 if you count one disallowed and one goal-nongoal). It’s very clear that London is not used to being on the losing side of the scoreboard – they fall apart, they start doing stupid things. Way to go boys – I am so proud of you.

First Period. In his first game back, Prust was given the first penalty of the game – a double minor for checking Kaspar from behind. The 67s were able to capitalize, with Mancari scoring to get the 67s on the board first (1-0).

The Knights got their chance on the PP when Staubitz was called for tripping. Hulit did a great job on the PK – intercepting a pass and getting it out of the zone. Mancari got a SH breakaway but wasn’t able to get it past Dennis. In any event, they killed off the penalty.

Alphonso elbowed Foreman, giving the Knights another PP. Then Hunter called for taking Bonello out right off the faceoff.

Girardi called next for running Battochio, knocking him down hard, and Reid called for going after Girardi. Girardi drew an extra minor, giving the 67s a 4-on-3, then 5-on-3, then 5-on-4. They weren’t able to score. Then Foreman caught the rebound coming out the penalty box and he was away, but Battochio made the save.

Staubitz was called for interference with just over 2 minutes to go in the period. The 67s were able to kill off the penalty, with Battochio making some tremendous saves and Schremp missing the wide open net.

SOG at the end of the period were 16 for Ottawa and 20 for London. The 67s were 1/4 on the PP, and the Knights 0/3. The 67s were up 1-0.

Second Period. Right off the first faceoff, Perry rushed to the 67s net, and got a good chance. But it was Bolland who was able to get a shot past Battochio (1-1). The Knights were all over the 67s, getting numerous chances, crowding the net, keeping the puck in the 67s zone.

Hulit was then elbowed behind the play, fell to the ice. Patafie came out, and he was assisted off the ice.

The Foreman/A. Perry/Reed line worked extremely hard on their shifts – they were giving the 67s a lot of trouble in their own end.

Akeson shot the puck from outside the circle (one of those ‘just shoot at the net’), and it went in on Dennis’ short side surprising everyone (2-1)! A crappy goal for Dennis – a great goal for Ottawa who finally managed to get the puck into the Knights zone. Prust was called for taking his frustration out on an Ottawa player, giving the 67s another PP.

Hulit was back out on the PP. London was strong on the PK, killing it off.

Methot tied it up (2-2). He was all alone, fired a hard wrist shot. (The 67s were in the process of changing, which was why Methot was not guarded.)

Ottawa iced the puck three times in a row. The Knights scored another sniper goal, by Syvret, to give London the lead for the first time in the game (3-2).

Hulit missed a golden opportunity – open net but missed. Then Mancari was called for slashing C. Perry, and Hunter and Reid called for tripping and diving.

Ottawa had troubles getting out of their zone on the PP, and Hunter stole the puck from Kaspar for a breakaway but Battochio stopped it.

SOG at the end of the period were 9 for Ottawa and 19 for London. The 67s were 1/6 on the PP, and the Knights 0/4. London was up 3-2.

Third Period. At the beginning of the third, Talbot was called for boarding Prust, giving the Knights a PP. But the 67s scored SH: Bonello, off a pass from Mancari (3-3). Petruzalek got another breakaway SH chance during that same penalty.

Akeson scored next, but it was waved off (reason was whistle blown before puck went in). But Kaspar came right back and scored and this one counted (4-3). A hard, sniper shot, top corner to the left of Dennis.

Then Alphonso went down after C. Perry sticked Alphonso in the face. A double minor to C. Perry. Another goal-nongoal, but then Mancari scored to make it (5-3) on the first PP of the double minor.

And you could tell that Dennis was flustered when he was given a penalty for punching a 67s player as they were down in a scramble. This put the 67s up by 2 men. Staubitz scored to make it 6-3, with 50 seconds left to go in Dennis’ penalty.

At the other end of the ice, Battochio robbed Girardi, kicking out his leg to make the save with the puck hitting his skate! He definitely held the fort for the 67s in the mid to end of the third.

At some point McGinn went off to the dressing room with Patafie, and didn’t come back. Not sure what happened.

Another PP opportunity for the Knights – with Beard called for interference. The 67s killed it off.

Prust was kicked out of the game (10 minute misconduct) with under 5 minutes to go in the game. Then Thomson boarded Bickell – knocked his helmet right off. This gave the 67s a 5-on-3 (Reed was in the box) with 3:30 left to go. Reid and Thomson dropped gloves. Reid couldn’t get Thomson’s helmet off, both getting in some punches, with Thomson taking Reid to the ice. The Knights continued with the crap right to the end, with Drummond called for charging.

Total SOG at the end of the period were 43 for Ottawa and 45 for London. The 67s were 3/11 on the PP, and the Knights 0/6. The 67s won 6-3.

SCORING
OTTAWA
1, Mancari, (10) (Petruzalek, Akeson), 05:03 (PP)
2, Akeson, (5) , 07:51
3, Bonello, (8) , 01:22 (SH)
3, Kaspar, (6) (Akeson), 03:06
3, Mancari, (11) (Kaspar, Bonello), 05:10 (PP)
3, Staubitz, (4) (Petruzalek, Talbot), 06:39 (PP)

LONDON
2, Bolland, (7) (Hunter, Perry), 00:32
2, Methot, (2) (Schremp, Fritsche), 11:36
2, Syvret, (4) (Bolland), 14:07

PENALTIES
OTTAWA
1 - Staubitz, 9:06 - Hooking, ,2min (PP)
1 - Alphonso, 12:55 - Elbowing, ,2min (PP)
1 - Reid, 14:47 - Roughing, ,2min
1 - Staubitz, 17:50 - Interference, ,2min (PP)
2 - Mancari, 15:32 - Slashing, ,2min (PP)
2 - Reid, 15:47 - Unsportsmanlike Cnd., ,2min
3 - Talbot, 0:08 - Checking from Behind, ,2min (PP)
3 - Beard, 10:35 - Interference, ,2min (PP)
3 - Reid, 19:12 - Unsportsmanlike Cnd., ,2min
3 - Reid, 19:12 - Fighting, ,5min
3 - Reid, 19:12 - 10-Minute Misconduct,
3 - Ouellette, 19:55 - Roughing, ,2min

LONDON
1 - Prust, 1:51 - Checking from Behind, ,2min (PP)
1 - Prust, 1:51 - Checking from Behind, ,2min (PP)
1 - Hunter, 14:07 - Interference, ,2min (PP)
1 - Girardi, 14:47 - Inter. on Goaltender, ,2min (PP)
1 - Girardi, 14:47 - Roughing, ,2min
2 - Prust, 7:51 - Roughing, ,2min (PP)
2 - Hunter, 15:47 - Hooking, ,2min
2 - Prust, 17:59 - High Sticking, ,2min (PP)
3 - Perry, 3:42 - High Sticking, ,2min (PP)
3 - Perry, 3:42 - High Sticking, ,2min (PP)
3 - Dennis, 5:31 - Roughing, ,2min (PP)
3 - Prust, 15:40 - 10-Minute Misconduct,
3 - BENCH, 16:09 - Bench Minor, ,2min (PP)
3 - Thomson, 16:23 - Charging, ,2min (PP)
3 - Thomson, 19:12 - Unsportsmanlike Cnd., ,2min
3 - Thomson, 19:12 - Fighting, ,5min
3 - Thomson, 19:12 - 10-Minute Misconduct,
3 - Drummond, 19:55 - Charging, ,2min

THREE STARS
OHL thee stars were: (1) Akeson, (2) Mancari, and (3) Fritsche.

TEAM 1200 thee stars were: (1) Mancari, (2) Kaspar, and (3) Bonello. An honourable mention to Battochio.

REFFING
Hobor.

ATTENDANCE
9090.

NEXT UP
Game 3 – LON at OTT – 5.10 (Tue) @ 7pm
Game 4 – LON at OTT – 5.12 (Thu) @ 7pm
Game 5 – OTT at LON – 5.14 (Sat) @ 7pm
Game 6 – LON at OTT – 5.16 (Mon) @ 7pm (if necessary)
Game 7 – OTT at LON – 5.17 (Tue) @ 7pm (if necessary)

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