Ottawa 67s Fan Report: Depleted 67's Lose in OT; Brampton 2, Ottawa 1

On a night where the 67’s played against the very defensively minded Brampton Battalion, only dressed 16 skaters and had a defenceman line up as their starting right winger, offensive hockey wasn’t to be expected on Friday night. Ottawa still managed 39 shots on the Battalion, 38 of which were turned aside by Brampton’s Keegan Wilson in a 2-1 overtime win for the Troops.

With less than a minute remaining in the extra frame, Battalion forward Michael Santini took the puck off the stick of Sean Monahan, sending himself in on a breakaway where he beat Petr Mrazek. Mrazek made 26 saves in the loss, which puts Brampton atop the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Ottawa.

Brandon Robinson had the other goal for Brampton who improved to 19-10-1-3, beating the 67’s in all three meetings this season. The Battalion won 3-2 in a shootout at home in November, and also beat Ottawa 4-1 at the J. Benson Cartage Center in October, a game marred and interrupted by fog on the ice.

Ottawa opened the scoring on a bizarre first-period goal. Cam Wind of the Battalion, trying to lean on Tyler Toffoli, lost his balance and fell into the net, putting the puck past his own goaltender Wilson in the process. Toffoli, playing in his first game since being cut by Canada’s Under-20 National Junior team, was not credited with the goal, but rather Dalton Smith, who had sent the puck down the ice to start the play, got credit for his sixth of the year.

Both Toffoli and Cody Ceci were returning from Alberta where they barely missed out on the National Junior Squad. Ottawa was without Shane Prince (USA) and Michal Cajkovsky (Slovakia) missed the game as they’re attending their respective countries’ camps. Mrazek is expected to be an integral part of the Czech Republic U-20 squad.

The 67’s have another long gap between home games, as December 28th is the next time Ottawa plays at home. They are in Barrie tomorrow and Oshawa on Sunday before a ten-day stoppage.

The Game Sheet can be found here

Three Stars as Selected by the Team1200 (2nd star Mrazek didn't take a turn)