67's in Great Spirits With 3 - 0 Win Over Saginaw

The 67's exorcised whatever spirits possessed them last weekend and Petr Mrazek got his third shut-out as the Ottawa 67's blanked Western Conference leading Saginaw 3 - 0.

And this time, it wasn't the top line doing all the scoring.

Click here for the game sheet.

Coming off a weekend where he had a total of 18 goals scored against him, Petr Mrazek was focused and on top of his game as he made 36 saves in his 3rd shut-out in front of the home-town fans.

He was also helped by the rest of his team playing a solid, 60-minute game where they played strong at both ends of the ice.

Saginaw started the game fast, carrying the play to Ottawa for the first half of the first period, aided by a couple of power plays but Ottawa held the league-leading power play to a total of two shots during the man-advantages.

Tyler Toffoli resumed his scoring ways with a bullet off the face-off that beat Mavric Parks blocker side. Of course Ryan Martindale got the second assist for his impressive face-off win to get the puck to Tyler.

Ottawa played with fire a bit, giving the Spirit 7 power plays in the game, including a 5-on-3 for 1:18 in the first period after Tyler's goal but the 67's kept the Spirit to the outside and Mrazek deftly dealt with the two shots that got through - kicking them out to the boards. His rebound control was strong all game.

Before the period ended, Sean Monahan scored his 7th goal for the season on another strong face-off effort in the Saginaw zone. Dalton Smith picked up the puck and fed it to Sean who beat Mavric Parks blocker side with a quick wrister from the hash marks.

Tyler Graovac gave Ottawa the 3-goal lead in the second period when he tipped a Ben Dubois pass past Mavric Parks. Sean Monahan with the second assist.

Saginaw picked up the pace in the third but was unable to solve Mrazek or the rest of the 67's team who kept skating hard and looking for the next goal (no doubt the the loss in Oshawa still fresh in their minds).

It was a solid, 60-minute effort by the entire team resulting in well-deserved win against a very good team and back into the winning column.

They have today to prepare for their Sunday game against the Guelph Storm. Former 67's Michael Latta was a one-man wrecking crew with 3 goals in a 6 - 4 win when these two teams met in November.

Three Stars as selected by the Team1200

Hardest Working 67's as selected by the Team1200: Cody Ceci

Random Thoughts:

• Things to work on: the PP. As the 67's held off all 7 of Saginaw's PPs, the Spirit were equal to the task in keeping Ottawa from scoring on any of their 7 power plays, including a 5-on-3 for 1:49 in the third where Ottawa only had 1 shot on goal. In fact, I believe that Ottawa had more scoring chances short-handed than they did with the man (men) advantage.
  
• Petr Mrazek is sporting a new paint-job on his brain-bucket. He finally received it for the game in Mississauga last Sunday. It didn't do much for him then but he sure was happy with it in this game as his kissed it when it was all over.
  
• Jon Carnevale, Cosimo Fontana and Steven Janes were still scratched (injuries) but the 67's still iced a full complement with Shipley and Fielding playing as forwards centred by Foglia. Jon has started skating again (non-contact) so he's on his way back to the line-up.
  
• Shipley is a scrappy fellow. He's had a couple of tilts this year including one in this game with rookie Terry Trafford. Decision to Ship.
  
• There were more scouts in the media room than I recall ever seeing. It was a chance for scouts based in eastern Canada and the US to see the Saginaw Spirit.

More Pictures: Click here to see more pictures from the game.