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March 28, 2015

67's get set for game 2: Game Preview

The opening game of the 2015 OHL Playoffs was a wild one. The Niagara IceDogs came into TD Place as the arguable favourites to win the series. Many counted the Ottawa 67’s out due to lack of experience and combined with the IceDogs offensive surge in the second half of the season. The 67’s earned back some of that respect Thursday night to open the series with a big 8-5 win.


Photo: Robert Lefebvre / www.icelevel.com


Dante Salituro led the team in scoring with a 5-point night, but it was Jeremiah Addison’s play and attitude that was even more impressive. Addison scored two third period insurance goals and added an assist on a Salituro empty net goal displaying his unselfishness that is sure to go noticed by the several scouts in attendance.

“He was open. Its playoff hockey, the goal's not just to get points. If I'm blessed enough to get points, I get points. The goal is to win and we were able to do that today,“ said Addison who also added a fight for the Gordie Howe Hat-Trick.


The 67’s opened the scoring with two quick goals in the first 5 minutes but the IceDogs responded with three unanswered goals into a second period that didn’t see the 67’s at their best. The home team responded with another quick three goals to open the final frame. The IceDogs did not back down but came up too short in the end.

“The message for long time we need to play a full 60 minutes. We didn't tonight and we saw them just take over for a while there. Thank god we had (Herbst) back there,” said 67’s head coach Jeff Brown who is aware that his team did not play a perfect game.


The 67’s will need to not just focus on shutting down the likes of Carter Verhaeghe, Josh Ho-Sang and Brendan Perlini but also, offensive defenseman, Vince Dunn who scored 4 goals for his Niagara IceDogs.

“We've got to tighten up in the defensive zone, make sure they don't get an opportunity. They're talented team they can score. Got to be able to go out and close(the game) out,” said Jeremiah Addison.


The 67’s did not do well in the specialty team column. The 67’s were ranked 2nd in the league on the PK, but allowed 2-for-3. They didn’t fare much better on the powerplay going only 1-for-8 on the night. Alternatively, the IceDogs specialty teams were better on paper. The 67’s will need to make sure to stay out of the box and capitalize on their opportunities if they want to continue to see success.

67’s Keys to Victory
  • Specialty teams need to be better
  • Play a full 60-minutes
  • Get big saves from the goaltending

IceDogs’ Keys to Victory
  • Best players need to be their best player
  • Stay out of the box, stay disciplined
  • Get big saves from the goaltending
Here’s a look at Thursday night's lineups:
Ottawa 67’s

Brendan Bell – Nathan Todd – Travis Konecny
Jeremiah Addison – Sam Studnicka – Dante Salituro
Connor Graham – Curtis Meighan – Trent Mallette
Adam Craievich – Travis Barron – Ben Fanjoy
Jake Middleton – Alex Lintuniemi
Nevin Guy – Evan de Haan
Zack Pittman – Taylor Davis
Liam Herbst

Scratched
  • Brandon Lukezic
  • Ryan Orban
  • Mike Vlajkov
  • Dylan McDonald 
Niagara IceDogs
Brendan Perlini – Carter Verhaeghe – Josh Ho-Sang
Mikkel Aagaard – Anthony DiFruscia – Matt Gillard
Billy Jenkins – Jordan Maletta – Cody Payne
Johnny Corneil – Graham Knott – Mitchell Fitzmorris
Blake Siebenaler – Brian Brosnan
Vince Dunn – Ryan Mantha
Zach Wilkie – Aaron Haydon
Brandon Hope

Scratched
  • Christopher Paquette
  • Jonathan Schaefer
  • Aleksandar Mikulovich
Of course, those were just the lines on paper. Following the first thirty seconds into the game, Marty Williamson juggled his lines pulling Ho-Sang off the top line. But 67’s head coach Jeff Brown didn’t look too much into that.

“ I think they were kind of playing games a little bit, like their lineup they gave us before the game was not even close to it was,” he said. “So, that's alright. If (Eastwood) and I aren't good enough to adjust, we shouldn't be coaching here.”


One line that was not affected was Ottawa’s newly formed second line of Addison-Studnicka-Salituro. Brown spoke about restructuring their lines with Konecny missing for the last couple weekends. He discussed that Salituro enjoyed playing on the wing.

“Put a guy like Studnicka who's so good defensively with Addison and Salituro, it kind of frees them up to be a little bit more creative offensively,” Brown added. “It was a good line I thought for us (Thursday night).”


The 67’s host the IceDogs for game 2 of the best-of-seven series this afternoon. The puck drops at 1pm.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Ottawa:
Goals For- 8
Goals Against- 5

Niagara:
Goals For- 5
Goals Against- 8

Specialty teams

Ottawa:
PP- 12.5% (12th in league)
PK- 33.3% (16th in league)

Niagara:
PP- 66.7% (1st in league)
PK- 87.5% (5th in league)

Top performers

Ottawa:
  • Dante Salituro- 2 goals, 5 points in 1 game
  • Jeremiah Addison- 2 goals, 4 points in 1 game
  • Sam Studnicka- 1 goal, 3 points in 1 game
Niagara:
  • Vince Dunn- 4 goals, 4 points in 1 game
  • Jordan Maletta- 1 goal, 1 point in 1 game

NHL Draft Picks

Ottawa:
  • Alex Lintuniemi – Los Angeles Kings (2nd round, 2014)
  • Jacob Middleton – Los Angeles Kings (7th round, 2014)
  • Travis Konecny – ranked #26 of North American Skaters in CSS’ Midterm rankings
  • Jeremiah Addison – ranked #127 of North American Skaters in CSS’ Midterm rankings
  • Dante Salituro – ranked #145 of North American Skaters in CSS’ Midterm rankings
  • Liam Herbst – ranked #14 of North American Goalies in CSS’ Midterm rankings

Niagara:
  • Bredan Perlini – Arizona Coyotes (1st round, 2014)
  • Josh Ho-Sang – New York Islanders (1st round, 2014)Carter Verhaeghe – Toronto Maple Leafs (3rd round, 2013)
  • Blake Siebenaler – Columbus Blue Jackets (3rd round, 2014)
  • Brent Moran – Dallas Stars (4th round, 2014)
  • Ryan Mantha – New York Rangers (4th round, 2014)
  • Cody Payne – Boston Bruins (5th round, 2012)
  • Aaron Haydon – Dallas Stars (6th round, 2014)
  • Vince Dunn – ranked #53 of North American Skaters in CSS’ Midterm rankings
  • Graham Knott – ranked #54 of North American Skaters in CSS’ Midterm rankings

Ottawa connections
  • Brent Moran – Orleans native
  • Billy Jenkins – Ottawa native

Schedule

Game 1 - Thu Mar 26 7:00 PM Niagara at Ottawa
Game 2 - Sat Mar 28 1:00 PM Niagara at Ottawa
Game 3 - Mon Mar 30 7:00 PM Ottawa at Niagara
Game 4 - Wed Apr 1 7:00 PM Ottawa at Niagara
Game 5 - Fri Apr 3 7:30 PM * Niagara at Ottawa
Game 6 - Sun Apr 5 2:00 PM * Ottawa at Niagara
Game 7 - Tue Apr 7 7:00 PM * Niagara at Ottawa
*if necessary

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