Quick goals not enough, 67's fall 7-4 to the IceDogs

NIAGARA - The Ottawa 67’s woes continued tonight as the 67’s dropped a 7-4 decision to the Niagara IceDogs to kick off their 4-game roadtrip.  Nevin Guy and Brett Gustavsen were one of the few bright spots both earning 3 points on the night and ending with a positive plus/minus rating.

A pair of first period goals from Leafs prospect Carter Verhaeghe put the 67’s down 2-0 after the first 20 minutes.  Verhaeghe capitalized on his opportunities catching Philippe Trudeau out of position after making two big saves on a two-man advantage.  He backhanded the puck into a wide open net to open the scoring. His second goal came off a great individual effort catching both Jacob Middleton and Trudeau flat-footed.  Verhaeghe extends his goal streak to six games and his point streak to 10 games.

The 67’s would tie things up early in the second with two quick goals from Ryan Van Stralen and Brett Gustavsen.  Van Stralen got the 67’s on the board first on the powerplay and only 16 seconds later Gustavsen picked up his first goal of the season to tie the game.  But that’s when the wheels would fall off.

Credit to the IceDogs for fighting back after allowing those two quick deflating goals; 35 seconds later, Eric Ming got the IceDogs back on the board.  In a span on 12 minutes, the IceDogs scored 4 unanswered goals to take a commanding 6-2 lead with 5 minutes to go in the second.  2014 NHL draft eligibles Anthony DiFruscia scored a natural hattrick while Brendan Perlini picked up two assists.  After scoring 6 goals on 25 shots, the IceDogs chased Trudeau from the nets and Jacob Blair came in for relief.

The 67’s had a great opportunity early in the third to turn things around with a two-man advantage.  After jumping on a loose puck, Jesse Graham used his speed to get past Avs prospect Joseph Blandisi and 2014 NHL draft eligible Jacob Middleton for a partial shorthanded breakaway.  From the backhand, he slid the puck through the fivehole for the lone goal Blair allowed during the game.  

The 67’s started to feed off the momentum from the powerplay, regrouped and scored another pair of quick goals just 23 seconds after the IceDogs 7th.  Still on the two-man advantage, Nevin Guy scored from the point on and again in the slot 20 seconds after and the  67’s cut the lead to 3.  Blair was solid for the 67’s giving them a chance to stay in the game stopping 16 of 17 shots.  The 67’s continued to press, but it was not enough time. 

Game sheet can be found here.

In their last 9 regular season games in Niagara, the 67’s have allowed 43 goals.  They haven’t had the nicest regular season record either, the 67’s hold a record of 2-7-0-0 in the past 5 seasons.

The 67’s travel to Erie to face the Otters on Saturday night.  They visit the Guelph Storm on Sunday afternoon to close out the weekend.

NEWS AND NOTES:

• Defenseman Taylor Davis left the game after taking a puck to the face late in the second period.  It has been reported that he will not make the trip to Erie.  Ottawa is now down three defensemen with Michael Vlajkov and Adrian Sloboda already out.
• As per AJ Jakubec (@AJonSports), Michael Vlajkov’s surgery went well but he could be out for 6 months after receiving news that the tear in his labrum (hipp) was worse than they had originally thought.