It's never a dull moment between the Ottawa 67's and the historical division rival Oshawa Generals. When you face a team for the fourth time in two months and both teams are struggling as of late, tension is bound to boil over. Tonight was no different.
In a midst of their longest losing streak of the season, the Oshawa Generals came out of the gate strong firing 13 shots in the opening frame. Standing on his head in his 23rd straight start, Philippe Trudeau stopped all shots fired his way. It was scoreless after one.
The Generals continued to dominate the play in the second period firing another 15 shots at Trudeau, but this time converting on 4 of them (Dal Colle with a pair, Petschenig with his 1st of the season & Suellentrop with his 2nd). With only 10 shots on net, it was clear the 67's were frustrated with their own play. Penalty trouble started from the beginning of the game but continued throughout the night. They allowed 2 goals on 5 powerplay opportunities through 40 minutes.
Missing captain Scott Laughton to the World Juniors & rookie standouts Sam Harding & Mitchell Vande Sompel to the World U-17 Championships, the Generals had no problem finding offense. Two quick goals in the third had the Generals up 6-0 by the 5 minute mark (Desrocher & Smith). But that woke up the 67's. They started to outwork and ended up outshooting the Generals 19-11 in the final frame. Tensions continued to build on both sides and the 67's started forced the Generals to get off track of their own game plan. The 67's scored three straight goals late in the game, causing the Generals to play on their heels (Van Stralen, Blandisi, Urbanic). It wasn't enough and the Generals held on to a 6-3 victory.
Game summary here: http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/schedule/show/game/66554
In a game that ended with 115 penalty minutes including 3 fights, 4 misconducts and a game misconduct, there was clearly no love lost between these two rivals.
FISTICUFFS
Newly named captain Brendan Bell & Justice Dundas were the first to drop the mitts in the first period which appeared to originate from the pre-game warmup. The bout last for 61 seconds with both participants getting several shots in. Decision: Draw.
Hunter Smith & 67's rookie Tyler Hill were the next to faceoff late in the second. Hill got a big shot in to start but Smith was able to get more shots in the end. Decision: edge, Smith.
The final fight occurred late in the third when a typical scrum in front of the net turned into mayhem as the refs had already lost control of the game. As a result of some jawing between Owen McDade & Philippe Trudeau, Jonathan Duchesne went to his goaltender's aid. Duchesne received an instigator and was given an automatic game misconduct as he instigated a fight with less than 5 minutes into the game.
QUICK NOTES:
- Bell & Duchesne already have 5 fighting majors halfway through the season. If either reaches fighting major #11, an automatic 2 game suspension will follow
- Along with Harding & Vande Sompel from the Generals, Travis Konecny was missing from the 67's lineup as he was captaining Team Ontario to a 8-1 win over Germany. The 67's definitely missed Konecny's creativity & talent tonight
- These two clubs face each other two more times before the end of the season and could very well face each other in the opening round of the playoffs
- Petschenig scored his first goal of the season, 2nd of his career & Desrocher scored his first career OHL goal for the Generals
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