Ottawa Wins This Battle: 5 – 0!

Tonight was the first of four scheduled meetings between these two clubs. Ottawa came in off a 4 game losing streak. Brampton came in on a two game winning streak, playing 6-4-0-0 in their last 10 to Ottawa’s 3-6-0-1.

Windsor scratches: Stryncl, Dale and Seymour.

Ottawa scratches: Gallea, Fisher and initially Kewin but due to Lahey’s last minute illness, Kewin was in. Brady Morrison started in net

Lines for tonight (after some initial shuffling about):
Alphonso, Couture, McGinn
Kewin, Liscomb, Linsday
Cowie, Kiriakou, Nesbitt
Biduke,Ribeiro, Cimadamore

Lost track of the defensive pairings. For some reason I haven’t been paying attention lately. Short attention span I guess.

Well tonight Ottawa started with a jump and kept it going all game. The 67s had Brampton pretty much pinned in their own zone for most of the first half of the period. Brampton didn’t even register their first shot on goal until almost 11 minutes into the period. Ottawa got on the board at the 10:34 mark on a quick play off the face off. Couture got the puck to Grimaldi at the point who one timed it to the net. McGinn tipped it in off the cross bar to score. About a minute later, Vojta was in deep in the Brampton corner, fought for and got the puck and tried to stuff it on the short side on the wrap-around. Kewin was there for the rebound and scored on Killeen. Liscomb was credited with the assist. Then it was Brampton’s turn to create a bit of pressure but Brady made the saves and the team cleared the puck out of danger. With just over two minutes left in the period, Cody Lindsay caught the Brampton overager Matt Auffrey with his head down and dumped him just inside the Ottawa blue line. It was a solid hit from a kid who is shorter by 6 inches, lighter by close to 40 pounds and 4 years younger. Auffrey felt it. Brampton received its first penalty of the game with 2:04 left to play. Ottawa thought it had scored its third goal (and first in a while on the PP) but the play had been whistled for another Brampton penalty. On the ensuing 5-on-3 it sure looked like a goal but apparently the shot hit the post. Finally, Logan Couture scored on a relatively soft shot that beat Killeen. Grimaldi and McGinn got the assists. And that’s how the period ended: Ottawa up 3 – 0 with shots on goal 14 – 12 in Ottawa’s favour.

Ottawa started the period with 25 seconds left in the second Brampton penalty but was unable to do anything dangerous in the short time. That was quickly followed by another chance on the PP but it was a bad bad PP. They couldn’t get anything going and actually allowed Brampton a short-handed scoring chance. Then it was Brampton’s turn with the man advantage but Ottawa did a good job of keeping them off the board. By the time the period was half over, Brampton had managed 8 shots on goal to Ottawa’s 1. Brady did what he had to do. With Shea Kewin doing time for tripping, Logan Couture picked up on a Brampton turnover, skated in on Killeen and popped it past him on the backhand for a beauty short handed goal! Specialty teammate McGinn got the assist. But wait – there’s more excitement before this one’s over. With 2:46 left in the period, Grimaldi was called for tripping in his defensive zone. He was pretty agitated about something and on his way to the penalty box, he tried to chat with the ref who was chatting with the timekeeper. A linesman kept Grimaldi moving to the sin-bin. There was much discussing going on and I thought that Joe might be getting some extra time for his attempt at unauthorized banter with a zebra. But wait... the puck….it was sitting at center ice waiting for some attention. What could that be about? A penalty shot? What for? Finally, it was revealed. Did you know that it was illegal to throw a stick at a player and the punishment is a penalty shot? Neither did I!! The stick was on the ice and apparently Joe had managed to move it (I think he kicked it) in the direction of a Brampton player who had the puck. So kids, don’t do this. Cody Hodgson was given the penalty shot as he was the player with the puck when it happened. He skated in on Brady. Brady moved out of the net to meet him. It was tension at the Ok corral. Brady backed up with the advance of Cody. Cody got in deep and tried to go to Brady’s left but the keeper kept the net! A save! And the home team fans go wild!! Ottawa went on the finish the penalty kill. With just 19 seconds left in the frame, Brampton once again got the call for something bad but Ottawa did not score before the buzzer.

After 40 minutes the score was 4 – 0 for Ottawa with shots on goal: 24 apiece.

Again Ottawa started the period on the powerplay with 1:41 remaining from the last Brampton infraction. It was not pretty. For a moment there Brampton actually came to life and they pressed Ottawa in their own zone. No damage done by either team. Then, much away from the play, Kewin and Chabot went at it not far from the Brampton bench. Have no idea what set it off. It was more of a dance than a real tilt. Call it a draw. Both players got 5 for fighting and Kewin earned two extra minutes for roughing. Biduke joined him in the joint for the two minutes. A mere 23 seconds into the penalty, Ottawa scored its second short handed goal. Jakub Vojta fired one in from the point that beat Killeen. It beat Jakub too. For a while there I don’t think he realized that he had scored. Couture and McGinn got the assists. From here to the end of the period, Ottawa had a couple of great scoring chances but Killeen made equally great saves. For his part, Brady had to make a couple of good saves to preserve the shut-out. That would be his second shut-out of the season. Well done Brady!

The final numbers: 5 – 0 Ottawa with shots on goal even at 33.

All stars shining brightly in Ottawa:

1. Logan Couture (2 goals – 2 assists)
2. Jamie McGinn (goal and 3 assists)
3. Brady Morrison (all saves – 33 of ‘em)

Hardest working 67: Jakub Vojta - a goal and an assist.

My Thoughts: Pretty good effort by the team tonight. It was really good to see them still trying hard even when they had the big lead (unlike another Ottawa team that will remain nameless here). It was Vojta’s last game with the 67s before he heads home to the Czech Republic to try out for the national junior team. The rookies continue to be fun to watch. All four lines saw some decent ice time. You can see that Logan is building back up to what we were used to seeing. While it is a huge disappointment that he didn’t get the call for the Canadian junior team, the time off will undoubtedly help him get back up to full form. Kewin certainly took advantage of his unexpected opportunity to play tonight. After initially being a healthy scratch, he had to dress at the last moment to replace an ailing Lahey. He scored a goal and made many other good plays to contribute to tonight’s win.

See you Sunday! Don’t forget your teddybears!