Abou-Assaly leads 67's to a 4-1 win over Gatineau (pre-season)

ROCKLAND – It wasn’t pretty, but the Ottawa 67’s skated to a 4-1 victory over the Gatineau Olympiques to earn their first win of the pre-season.  Andrew Abou-Assaly had a pair of goals and Jacob Blair stopped 40 shots to secure the victory.

Several key names were missing in the line-up such as Joseph Blandisi, Sean Monahan, Martin Reway and Emile Porier.  They are all away at their respective NHL camps.  The young players on both teams received plenty of ice time to try and prove that they belong in the OHL.

Between youth and the start of a news season, both teams understandably came out flat in the first period.  There weren’t many chances and the neutral zone was often clogged up.  The first good scoring chance of the game didn’t come until the 13:30 mark of the 1^st period where Blair came up with a big pad save.  It wasn’t until midway through the first that the first goal was recorded as  Jacob Middleton capitalized on a 2-man advantage.  He sent a hard shot from the point through traffic and in behind a screened Robert Steeves in the Gatineau net to draw first blood.

The Olympiques started to take control late in the first period after an unsuccessful man advantage.  They dominated much of the puck possession from then on until the remainder of the game.  Shots were 11-3 after the first period of play.

Olympiques defensemen continued to pressure the 67’s forwards and managed to give the 67’s a hard time entering their zone.  Despite not having the puck a lot, the 67’s continued to buzz around the net.  They would be rewarded with the second goal of the night from Tyler Hill who picked up a pass from Travis Konecny and fired the puck past Steeves short-side on a delayed powerplay.  This counted as a short-handed goal as the 67’s started to run into some penalty trouble.

Marc-Olivier Brouillard finally got a puck past Jacob Blair with the Olympiques’ 20^th shot of the night.  Brouillard with a great effort and banked in his own rebound to get his team on the board. 

The 67’s would respond as Andrew Abou-Assaly streaked down the slot and shot the puck five hole.  Steeves got a piece of it, but not enough and just trickled in.

Shots were 29-9 for Gatineau after two periods but the 67’s still lead 3-1.

The third period was a slightly better one for the 67’s with a couple more scoring chances both ways.  However, it didn’t start off that way.  The 67’s didn’t register a shot until 6:38 into the first period.  The first shot ended up being the 67’s 4^th goal and Abou-Assaly’s 2^nd of the night.  Abou-Assaly had a breakaway just out of the penalty box and wristed a clean shot through the five hole of Steeves.

The 67’s had the chance to do more damage, but the Olympiques were able to kill off – the almost full – two-man advantage.  

The game ended and the 67’s were outshot 41-14 but a 4-1 Ottawa win.  Next game is tomorrow night where this time the Olympiques host the 67’s at the Robert Guertin Arena. 

Notes:

• A couple fights on the night which all resulted in game misconducts from OHL ruling in pre-season.  Tomorrow’s game should be interesting as this game misconduct does not apply.
• Both teams were able to collapse down low and force each other to shoot from the perimeter.
• Konecny showed several flashes of brilliance, but was very inconsistent today. He is young, so this could improve with age and experience.  Great hands and hockey IQ already.
• Studnicka has a strong game. He used his body well to drive straight to the next resulting in a goal and several other chances tonight.
• Tyler Hill would be great to leave standing in front of the opposition net.  He has a big body and is very hard to move. The 67’s tried this out later in the game, it would be wise for them to continue.
• Jacob Blair played well enough to win, but wasn’t tested. 67’s limited shots to the perimeter and other shots were one-timers.  Blair reads the play well, gets into good positioning, but is still lacks rebound control.
• 67’s had trouble with zone entry.  Part of it is because the Olympiques defense played well.
• Marc-Olivier Brouillard has a resemblance to Patrick Kaleta:  Some decent skill but is an agitator, embellisher and has a mouth that he is not willing to back up.  Could hinder them in important games, but was able to successfully draw penalties for his team tonight.

Location:

CIH Academy Arena

Rockland, ON

Attendance:

1,157

Scoring Summary:

1st period
OTT- Jacob Middleton (Studnicka), PPG
GAT- n/a

2nd period
OTT- Tyler Hill (Travis Konecny, Jacob Middleton), SHG; Andrew Abou-Assaly (Dante Salituro, Alex Lintuniemi)
GAT- Marc-Olivier Brouillard (Alexandre Carrier, Jonathan Bourcier)

3rd period
OTT- Andrew Abou-Assaly (n/a)

Three stars:

1.       Ottawa – Andrew Abou-Assaly (2 goals)

2.       Ottawa – Jacob Blair (40 saves)

3.       Ottawa – Jacob Middleton (1 goal, 1 assist)