Ottawa at Barrie - Live Blog

Another wild Saturday night in Ottawa. Settled down with a glass of my favorite beverage after some great Thai takeout from the Siam Kitchen and ready to catch some hockey. And there's lots tonight with all NHL teams in action today as well as some OHL hockey too.

Forward combos (I never did get it right - this is the best I could do):
Cowick, Couture, Nesbitt
Martindale, Latta, Toffoli
?, Kiriakou, Carnevale
Blunden, Lindsay, Zamec,

D-pairs:
Paryzek, Cuma
Demers, Ryan
?, Zanetti

Chris Perugini is in net as expected.

Scratches: Schinkelshoek, Sonnenburg, Anderson, Hanes

First Period

15:31 First PP when Corey Cowick was hooked going for the net. Latta gets hit hard bringing the puck up in his own zone. Cuma then takes a cross-check penalty to end the PP and it's back to 4-on-4.

13:38 First PK for about 1:00. Perugini lets out a big rebound and Brian Lashoff gets his first goal of the season.

12:23 Second PP. Couture is having a long discussion with the ref. Guess he talked the ref in assessing a 4-minute penalty for the high stick on Nesbitt.

11:45 Another penalty to Barrie 5-on-3 for two minutes. Ottawa is not getting much going in the first half of this one - Barrie is showing why they earned their high-ranking in the PK. Two good stops by DiSalvo.

9:46 Another penalty to Barrie as a Barrie player with a name too long for his shoulders drills Carnevale into the boards. 5-on-3 for another 2 minutes.

7:45 Nothing for Ottawa after playing with the man advantage for a long time - long periods with the two-man advantage. This does not look good. So much for the best PP in the league.

6:55 Barrie playing hard and keeping possession.

5:03 PK for Ottawa. Paryzek off for interference. Ottawa finally clears the zone with less than a minute left in the penalty. successfully killed.

2:34 Ottawa doesn't look as fast as last night. Could be that we are seeing it further away (where the cameras are positioned). Perugini is making some great saves.

SOG: 14 - 17 for Barrie

First Intermission
Ottawa just doesn't seem to have the same jump as they did last night, they are not moving their feet as much and their passes are not as crisp. A number of weak passes from fanning the puck. They will need to pick it up. DiSalvo has made some good saves too.

A quick check to see what my other Ottawa team is doing - just in time to see Toronto go up by two.

Intermission interview with Corey Cowick - he took a stick in the mouth and it looks pretty sore.

Second Period

17:00 So far Barrie has carried the play. Ottawa has not had a chance to set anything up in the offensive zone. Still haven't figured out all the lines - hard to see them all on the TV screen.. I wish they would show them on the TV.

16:30 DiSalvo saved by a goal post.

15:00 This isn't a very exciting game.

11:50 Barrie getting a couple of good chances that Perugini snuffs.

11:30 An innocuous-looking shot gets by Perugin. Barrie up by 2. Ottawa not really matching the effort and play of Barrie. Wait - it's under review. Goal tender interference perhaps? Is that reviewable? Long wait. Wish I could read lips as both refs are chatting by the phone. Still waiting. An interview with an injured Barrie Colt. And we're still waiting for a decision. It must be hard to tell which suggests that the decision will rest with the decision on the ice. OK - we have the call - NO GOAL!!

11:06 Hard work by Cowick draws a roughing penalty against Barrie. OK guys - lets do something with this 6th PP.

10:49 Well, that didn't last long as Thomas Nesbitt gets called on the tripping penalty.

9:44 Ottawa looking a bit better. Good drive by Kiriakou, good effort by Toffoli, forces Barrie to ice the puck.

8:46 Just as the Ottawa penalty expires, Sean Ryan gets called to put Barrie back on the PP.

8:15 Kiriakou intercepts the pass and has a chance for the breakaway but cannot keep control. I think their luck is still somewhere on the bus. But the penalty is killed.

6:20 Chris is keeping this team in the game. He gets a star already from me.

5:37 Cody Linsay ties up the game on a goal that surprized everyone. He took a shot from the corner on the goal line and it hit the far post and went in. It looks like it actually went behind him. Oh no - this one is being reviewed too. Can't imagine what the issue might be. There's no unauthorized hole in the side of the net after inspection by the linesman and the net was strong on its moorings. Still waiting for a decision. I sure hope this game doesn't go to a shoot out - Ottawa may not make it to Mississauga in time for the puck to drop tomorrow afternoon. OK - a decision - GOAL!! Unassisted. Good for Cody - it's his second of the season.

4:06 Lots of shots at 67s when they don't have the puck.

3:34 With a bullet from inside the blue line, Zanetti gives Ottawa the lead with Lindsay and Birkhoff getting the assists.

SOG 27 - 30 still in Barrie's favour. But Ottawa got the two goals.

Second Intermission

Ottawa finished this period much better than they started it. After getting on the board, they started playing the game we have become used to seeing - working harder on the boards, keeping possession and getting traffic in front of DiSalvo. Let's see if they can bring it to the ice again in the third.

Looking in the stands during play - it sure looks kinda empty there. Discussion by the talking heads right now musing about the lower attendance across the league. Gene Pereira correctly points out that the recent economic turn down can't be the entire reason as season tickets are usually purchase much earlier.

Third Period

20:00 Ottawa starts with a PP due to the tripping call right at the buzzer at the end of the second period. It's their 7th tonight. And Barrie gets the best scoring chance as Ottawa is playing too laid-back. Some good puck control but no goal. Good kill by Barrie.

17:16 Perugini's new pads sure looked pretty scuffed now.

15:28 A good shift by the TML line controlling the puck in Barrie's zone.

13:52 Two HUGE saves by DiSalvo!! A pad and a glove save. Both game-savers!!

12:54 Kiriakou now centering Toffoli and Martindale. How long has that been going on? Is Latta in the dog-house?

11:39 Barrie ties it up as Colton Kennedy gets the puck right in front and he back-hands it into the empty net.

6:36 PP Ottawa. Their 8th - if there was any time to score a PP goal, this is it!! Barely a shot on goal. Problem with the clock in the rink. The penalized player was kept in the box about 20 seconds longer than necessary.

3:28 Adam Zamec with a head of steam coming down the left side takes a shot from the top of the face off circle and Carnevale following up on the play pots the rebound to put Ottawa back ahead late in the game. Cody Lindsay gets his third point of the night.

0:09 Corey Cowick seals the deal with his 11th goal of the season into the empty Barrie net. Tyler Cuma made a great diving play to break up a play when Barrie had the extra player on the ice.

End of Game: It's Ottawa coming from behind to win 4 - 2. SOGs 40 - 37 for Ottawa. Here's the game sheet.

Three Stars in the Arena:
1. Chris Perugini
2. Cody Lindsay
3. Brian Lashoff

Three Stars by Team1200:
1. Chris Perugini (7th win of the season)
2. Jon Carnevale (his first goal of the season and the GWG!)
3. Cody Lindsay (3-points)/Peter DiSalvo (some monster saves!!)

Hardest Working Ottawa67s as selected by Team1200: Thomas Nesbitt

The Teamteam are mentioning Latta being out of the game - did he get injured? Nothing was mentioned on the broadcast? I know I should have had the radio on instead!! Argh!

Now onto the bus for the one-hour drive (or so) to Mississauga. For me, time to relax with a glass of my favorite beverage to celebrate the road-game win. Cheers!