Jonathan Duchesne and Tyler Hill scored on a pair of seeing-eye shots on Friday night, and Joseph Blandisi had his third game winning goal of the season as the 67’s took a 6-3 decision over the Mississauga Steelheads.
Ottawa converted on two of their six powerplays on the night while going two-for-two on the penalty kill, staying out of the box for most of the game, an area Chris Byrne has harped on in previous games.
“We got off to a good start,” said Byrne. “We weren't in the penalty box early, and other team was.”
“We did a great job early defensively and I think we let things get away from us at a point a little bit.”
When Mississauga started to take over, Philippe Trudeau did his best to shut the door. He made 40 stops tonight, now having made 200 saves in his first six appearances with the 67’s.
“He made some big saves,” added Byrne. “I think with him, he's going to be big and solid in the net and give us a chance when we work hard. That's what we expect out of a goalie, and that's what he did tonight.”
Trudeau’s biggest flaw of the night came just over ten minutes in, as he attempted to play the puck on the powerplay, only to give it away, essentially handing the Steelheads a three-on-one break, before allowing Everett Clark to open the scoring.
Blandisi tied the game before the first period was out with his first of two powerplay markers on the night.
Duchesne and Dylan Smoskowitz traded second-period goals before Hill and Connor Brown opened up a two-goal advantage for the home side.
Ottawa native Brandon Belding brought Mississauga back to within one before Blandisi, on what seemed like a broken breakout play in the Ottawa end, found himself on a two-on-one with Brendan Bell, electing not to pass before making a fancy move to beat Spencer Martin and re-gain the two-goal cushion.
Dante Salituro added an empty netter for his third point of the night.
Although he wasn’t used on special teams and therefore didn’t get as much ice time as he regularly would have, 15-year old Mississauga defender Sean Day played his first game against the team that could have taken him first overall in the OHL draft.
“One of the teams who passed me up, obviously it was a game that I wanted to win so I'm a bit disappointed,” said Day.
“We weren't looking out for each other I don’t think,” he added when asked about first overall pick Travis Konecny. “I've played against him a couple times in minor midget hockey, I know how he plays and he knows how I play.”
Byrne didn’t want to take any credit away from the exceptional status defenceman, but stood by his selection of Konecny.
“Sean Day's an excellent player. It was a good draft. We made our choice, but all the top five or seven will be great OHL players.”
Had it not been for Martin making 45 saves in the Steelheads net, the game could have been more out of hand.
“He’s always been important,” said Day of his goaltender. “He’s one of the top goalies in the league and he’s playing like it right now. We were on the penalty kill the whole game tonight and our top guys weren’t being our top guys.”
The 67’s take on the Guelph Storm Friday at home.
Game sheet can be found here.
Assorted Notes:
- Aside from a bad giveaway that lead to the Smoskowitz marker, Alex Lintuniemi quietly had one of his best games of the season. Right before the giveaway, he prevented a goal with Trudeau out of position. Strong physical game as well.
- Taylor Fielding left the ice late in the second and didn't return. He's listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury.
- Ryan Van Stralen was quiet all night but caused havoc in front of the Mississauga net on the powerplay. He wound up with three assists on the night.
Three Stars as Selected by TSN1200
Hardest working 67's (again): Taylor Davis
Some pictures from the game:
Ryan Van Stralen's cousins from Holland at their first hockey game.
Ryan Van Stralen battling in front of the net.
Alex Lintuniemi blocking a shot late in the game.
Click here to see more pictures from the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment