Ottawa 67s Fan Report: It's a Two-Game Winning Streak!

It's the first two-game winning streak of the year and the first shoot-out win! Tyler Cuma, the 6th Ottawa player (and final shooter) put it past Visentine for the 2-1 win.

Forward Combos:
Nigro, Martindale, Nesbitt
Smith, Lindsay, Toffoli
Graovac, Merrett, Sointu (starting forwards)
Janes, - , Stevens

D-pairs
Zanette, Cuma
Demers, Gibbons
Hartwick, Ceci (starters)
Hanes

Goal: Perugini

Scratches: Carnevale (back), Cowick (shoulder), Birkhoff (hip), Anderson (?)

The Ottawa 67s were looking to continue the strong play from Friday and avenge the home opening loss at the hands of the Niagara IceDogs. And at just 5:12 into the game, Thomas Nesbitt scored his 50th OHL goal by picking up his own rebound, threw it back to the net and beat Visintine. Nigro and Martindale with the assists.

Nothing much happened for the rest of the period. Ottawa had some good chances and made some good moves to keep control of the puck but they were unable to bend the twine. Niagara outshot Ottawa 13-8 and Chris stopped them all.

The second period wasn't so great and the 67s were lucky to come out of that period still holding the one-goal lead. Neither team threatened in the early going - the first shot on goal of the period didn't happen until 5 minutes into the frame. Chris Perugini stood tall and kept his team in the game. But the momentum seemed to be going to Niagara.

Ottawa's relatively lackluster play (as compared to Friday) continued in the third and you could just sense that the IceDogs were about to tie it up. And with their 4th powerplay of the game, Reggie Traccitto fired one from the point that beat Perugini top shelf.

And that's how regulation ended. Ottawa got some jump in the last few minutes and played strong in OT but it was one to the shoot out to determine the winner.

Niagara went first. You can see the order on the game sheet. Here's what the sheet doesn't tell you...

Hamilton's shot was deflected over the net
Nigro hit the post
Shaw got in too deep
Nesbitt tried 5-hole but it was an easy stop for Visnetine
Perugini had a nice poke check on Agozzino
Toffoli's shot was and easy save
De Sousa's shot was also an easy save
Lindsay missed the net entirely on the backhand
Insam's deke didn't fool Chris at all
Martindale tried 5-hole but no-go,
Moes' backhand was stopped
Ottawa captain Tyler Cuma made the nice move to put it past Visentine to win the game.

Here's the game sheet.

Random Thoughts:

Well, it certainly wasn't the same level of intensity as Friday's game. Gary Roberts addressed the team before the Friday game. It would appear that they forgot the key messages he gave them. Ottawa barely beat a team that played the night before.
Powerplay still needs work. They had a total of one shot on net in their two power plays.
Dalton Smith is sure one tough cookie. He takes the hits and gives the hits, will drop the gloves and stand his ground in front of the net.
It is good to see Cuma back on his game. Watching the game from ice level gives you a better perspective of his speed and strength.
The 67s had more icing and turn-overs than a pastry shop. I was getting hungry.
Listening to the Team1200 at the end of the game, while the in-arena announcement and the game sheet shows Dalton Smith as the third star, given his game winning shoot out goal, they announced Tyler Cuma as their third star and Dalton Smith as their Hardest Working 67s (for the second game in a row). When something like this happens late in the game, it's hard to get the information to everyone in time to catch the players as they leave the ice.
As a result of this weekend's wins, the 67s are no longer in the basement of the conference and the league.
A few players appear to be growing mustaches in support of Movember, an annual, month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men's health issues - specifically prostate cancer. At this age, the mustache playing field is definitely not even. But it's good to see the attempts.