67’s earn win in back-and-forth affair with Generals

Back and forth the Ottawa 67’s and Oshawa Generals went on Friday night inside The Arena at TD Place, but in the end, it was the Barber Poles securing a 3-2 upset win, and two critical points.

Intensity broiled on both sides, with points being massive in their respective races, but it was the 67s that broke through first. Kaleb Dietsch made a hard-nosed play along the wall to get the puck to Filip Ekberg, who fed a pass low-to-high to Ryan White. In his fourth OHL game, White ripped a shot into the top corner, picking up his first career goal in a big way.

On the play, Ekberg, the Swedish import, extended his point streak to seven games.

A talented Generals squad needed only three and a half minutes to respond. A point shot took an odd bounce out front of the net, hopping right to Luke Torrance, who slammed it into the yawning cage, and just like that, it was a brand new game.

Only 26 seconds into the second, Ottawa’s big guys got to work. Luca Pinelli picked up a loose puck in the corner, and found Ekberg in the near circle. With ample time and space, the Swede patiently readied for a shot, which he made good on, tickling the twine behind the Oshawa goaltender to give the 67’s their second lead of the night.

Just like last time, however, Oshawa was there to respond, although it took much longer this go around, more than 16 minutes to be precise. Noah Powell potted his eighth of the season, knotting the score at two, and setting up a great finish.

Midway through the final frame, Pinelli drove hard to the net at the goal line, and jammed the puck into the net, picking up his second point of the night, and giving the home side a massive lead late.

As Oshawa swarmed in the final few moments, the Barber Poles stood tall, blocking numerous shots to solidify a massive 3-2 win, and move just two points back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Box score

Teams	Score	Shots on goal	Power plays
Ottawa	3	30	1/3
Oshawa	2	27	0/1

 

First period

1-0: OTT #21 Ryan White (1) scores. Assists: #34 Filip Ekberg, #4 Kaleb Dietsch

1-1: OSH #17 Luke Torrance (22) scores. Assists: #72 Zackary Sandhu, #96 Owen Griffin

Second Period

2-1: OTT #34 Filip Ekberg (15) scores. Assists: #20 Luca Pinelli, #8 Frankie Marrelli

2-2: OSH #15 Noah Powell (8) scores. Assists: #77 Ben Danford, #42 Lauri Sinivuori

Third Period

3-2: OTT #20 Luca Pinelli (34) scores. Assists: #29 Cooper Foster, #22 Matthew Mayich POWER PLAY

Up next

The Barber Poles will host their final home game of the 2024-25 season on Sunday afternoon against the Kingston Frontenacs. They’ll be celebrating St. Paddy’s Day, complete with some sweet green threads. You won’t want to miss it, and you can still grab your tickets here.