Kosmachuk dominates as 67's lose 7-3 to the Storm

The Guelph Storm skated to a 7-3 victory over the Ottawa 67's in front of a home crowd of 4,002 on Sunday afternoon. The win extends the Storm's win streak to four games and the 67's losing streak to 3 games.



It's the last time these two teams will meet in the regular season and Scott Kosmachuk is one player the 67's won't miss seeing. The Winnipeg Jets prospect posted a 5 point night including 4 goals and an assist. He had a couple good chances late in the third to increase that point total.

The 67's have not won against the Storm in Guelph since November 6, 2009.  Kosmachuk has caused the 67's a lot of headaches scoring 11 goals and 18 points through 8 career games against them.

While this is the third straight game the 67's have allowed 6 goals or more, the score certainly did not indicate the pace of the game.  The 67's competed hard and had a good chance to win until midway through the third when the wheels fell off.

Joseph Blandisi opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal for an early 1-0 lead.  Midway through the first, Brock McGinn notched his own shorthanded goal with 8 seconds left on the 67's powerplay. That's the second straight game the 67's allowed a shorthanded goal.  Thirty-eight seconds later, Kosmachuk gave the Storm their first lead with his first of the game.

With two Storm players in the box for a 2-man advantage, the 67's tied up the game on a Blandisi sharp angle shot.  That was his second goal of the game and his third multiple goal night this season.  The Storm regained the lead (Kosmachuk) and added an insurance goal (Hunter Garlent) in a span of 2.5 minutes. Dante Salituro got the 67's back within one late in the second.

The 67's competed hard but seemed to run out of gas in the final ten minutes of the game. They made a lot of costly mistakes and were unable to recover against a very strong Storm squad.  The Storm went on to score three in the second half of the final frame including a two goals in a span of 20 seconds and one just over 3 minutes later.

Quick goals have been an issue for the 67's this season. They are getting caught on their mistakes. Inexperience appears to be a factor and this can only improve with more games. It is a young team missing several players from their blueline (Mike Vlajkov, Adrian Sloboda & Taylor Davis) and they will have to learn to adjust in the meantime.

The 67's are in Peterborough next week to play their final game of the roadtrip. They will be hungry for their first road win of the season.

Game sheet can be found here.