The lineups were:
Cowick, Couture, Kiriakou,
Martindale, Latta, Toffoli
Zamec, Lindsay, Nesbitt
Sonnenburg, Anderson, Carnevale
The D-pairs were:
Paryzek, Cuma
Demers, Ryan
Birkhoff, Zanetti
Perugini was in the net for his 7th straight game (Courchaine was dressed and on the bench today)
Scratches were Hartwick, Schinkelshoek, Vorobyov and Hanes.
This was Guelph’s third in three on the road. They came from behind in Kingston on Friday and won in overtime; lost to Belleville last night 2 – 1.
Here’s the game sheet from tonight.
Logan Couture took his first faceoff of the season and won it to start the game. And it didn’t take long for Ottawa take control and get the first goal of the game. It was Tyler Toffoli getting his second goal of the season after Michael Latta worked hard in the front of the net and Tyler picking up the lose puck and getting it up over the shoulder of the former 67s goalie Fischer. Ryan Martindale had the other assist.
The team played hard, keeping their sticks and feet moving and not letting Guelph set up much. The TML line kept the Storm on their toes, forcing their way through traffic and creating great scoring chances including a great breakaway by Martindale early in the game. He hit the side of the net. The fore-checking had Guelph pinned a number of times.
The only goal that Guelph scored came in the first period when Luke Pither was left unattended by Tyler Cuma and he banged home the rebound. Tim Priamo got the assist.
Later, in a drive for the net Tyler Toffoli drew a hooking penalty and on the ensuring powerplay, Thomas Nesbitt kept digging for the net and swept it between the legs of Fischer to regain the lead. Tyler Cuma and Cody Lindsay got the assists. And they never looked back.
It looked a bit scary on the second power play of the game when Guelph’s Peter Holland chipped the puck past a pinching Tyler Cuma creating a 2-on-1 with Tim Priamo as Martindale raced back. The one-timer by Priamo was snapped out of the air by Perugini who anticipated the pass.
The second period was all Ottawa. For those of us at the other end of the ice, there wasn’t much close-up action. It started slow enough, with neither team getting much going for quite a while.
The main excitement was a breakaway by Tyler Toffoli at about the halfway mark when he blocked a shot from the point by Nathan Martine who rushed in on Fischer who made the glove save.
Ottawa had a number of scoring chances that they just couldn’t finish but they were getting more traffic to the net. It paid off again when Corey Cowick’s shot rebounded off Travis Gibbons and past Jake Fischer to put Ottawa up by 2 with just over a minute left in the period. Logan Couture was right on the doorstep waiting for the rebound that never came. Thomas Kiriakou got the assist.
As the period ended, Logan Couture and Nathan Martine got into it and both were escorted off the ice. Logan was some ticked off about something and kicked a Guelph player’s stick out of the way as the player was going to retrieve it. He earned himself an extra two for that bit of attitude. But I think his team mates liked seeing this side of their new captain. No more Mr. Nice Guy for him. He’s learned a thing or two out there on the west coast.
Guelph seemed to get their second wind in the third period which is pretty impressive given how much hockey they had already played this weekend but I imagine they were a bit charged after the pushing and shoving at the end of the second. Perugini made a momentum-saving save on Kennedy when Kennedy took advantage of a miscue and had the breakaway.
The game got a little chippier but nothing material came of it. As the Storm ran out of time, and down by two, they pulled the goalie with over a minute to play but the extra attacker didn’t do them any good. Corey Cowick put it into the empty net to put the finishing touch on the game. Logan Couture got the assist and his first point of the season.
Random thoughts:
- Still some issues with finishing. Hopefully this will improve as lines continue to play together and players get used to each other.
- Matindale has some Spezza-like habits - passes his line mates were not expecting. A habit he shouldn’t cultivate.
- The 4th line made some good use of the limited time they saw.
- There was some great work on the boards by Latta, Cowick, Kiriakou. Martindale got his stick in the way of a lot of Guelph pucks.
- Cory Syvret is a bit of a dirty player. He had Kiriakou by the boards and with his back to the ref he threw in a couple of punches to Thomas’ face.
- Corey Cowick fired a shot from the top of the face off circle that knocked the helmet off Jake Fischer.
- Tyler Cuma got in late last night (early this morning??) and was likely playing on adrenaline alone
See you next Friday when the Division leading Belleville Bulls are back in town!
Three Stars:
1 - Chris Perugini
2 - Tyler Toffoli
3 - Jake Fischer (no show)
Three of the many competitors in the wiener dog race!
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