Ottawa 67s Fan Report: 67’s can’t weather the Storm, fall 6-0 to Guelph

Clint Windsor made 47 saves, but it wasn’t enough as the Guelph Storm skated to an easy 6-0 win over the hometown Ottawa 67’s. It was Tanner Richard and Scott Kosmachuk who stole the show each tallying 3 points in front of a crowd of 5,228.

Like many times this season, it didn’t get off to a very good start for the 67’s. Tanner Richard opened the scoring at the 6:38 mark of the opening frame. It was his 4^th of the season and a short handed marker after Andrey Pedan received an instigator taking exception to a hit along the boards by rookie Jacob Middleton.

Just past the midway point, Daniel Poliziani picked up his 2^nd of the season and the Storm’s second of the night. His sharp angle shot trickled into the net past Windsor on his blocker side. Less than two minutes later, Scott Kosmachuk made it a 3-0 game off a quick wrist shot in the slot taking advantage of the extra two attackers on the powerplay.

The 67’s were outshot 20-7 and set the pace for the remainder of the game.

It only took the Storm 42 seconds into the second period for Brock McGinn to score his 14^th of the season. The younger brother of former 67’s Tye & Jamie scored from the high slot and appeared to have clipped a stick out front. Guelph would add another goal to their lead on the powerplay as the 67’s continued to get into penalty trouble. Andrej Pedan with his 11^th of the season to make it 5-0 Guelph through two periods.

The 67’s played a physical game, but were also slapped with having to kill off 7 powerplay opportunities. They allowed 3 goals including one short-handed. “ I thought at times in the game our guys did play hard and did push the pace. To your point there were a couple of big hits out there. I thought our specialty teams weren’t up to par, weren’t where they needed to be,” said associate coach Misha Donskov who was the bench boss for this game.

Cody McNaughton wrapped up the scoring as the lone goal in the third period. Ottawa 67’s drop their 4^th straight and remain 4 points back of Peterborough for 9^th in the Eastern Conference.

Donskov was not impressed with the effort level. “I didn’t think it was good enough. I think first and foremost you have to give Guelph a lot of credit. Their team was four very well balanced lines and they got a big back end. They got a lot of skill, a lot of speed and thought Sparks was very good in net. But to your point, our effort level wasn’t good enough. We didn’t play a full 60 minutes and we had too many mental lapses.”

But what were the positives? “I thought the line of Andrew Abou-Assaly played really well. They played hard, pushed the pace and I thought they had a solid game. I thought at times in the game we were where we wanted to be. We had a good forecheck going and we played hard. But I think overall our effort level needs to be a lot better, ” explains Donskov.

The 67’s are back in action Sunday afternoon where they host Cody Ceci and the Owen Sound Attack for the first time since being traded at the deadline.

Asked about the 67’s game plan against the high-flying attack Attack, Donskov replied, “We just want to work hard and keep our game simple. It will be nice to see Ceci back here. They’ve got a great team, so we’ve got to limit their chances, play well defensively, really establish our forecheck and push the pace.”

The Attack sit second in the Midwest and made a couple big moves to make a run to the Cup. Also facing their former team will be Jacob Middleton and Josef Blandisi who were the other part of the Ceci / Janes trade.

Click here to see the game sheet.

Three Stars as Selected by the Team1200

Hardest Working 67's: Mike Cajkovsky

Random Thoughts from Behind the Lens:

This was a tough game to watch - the Guelph Storm pretty much had their way with the 67's. They were simply better in any aspect of the game that you might think of - speed, strength, determination.
If hits were goals, the 67's might have won this game but the Storm just bounce back up and kept working and scoring.
There are 20 games left in the season. They will all be tough. Here's where those with commitment, drive and a great work ethic will separate themselves from those who just play hockey really well. Coaches and scouts watch losing teams too.
Not sure if we will see Janes on the ice when Owen Sound comes to town on Sunday. He was assessed a match penalty for slewfooting in their game against Kingston last night.

Some pictures from the game: