67’s roll to gutsy win over Steelheads
Ottawa 67’s Head Coach Dave Cameron used one word to sum up his team’s game on Saturday afternoon: gutsy.
In the absence of names like Kaleb Lawrence, and Frankie Marrelli, the Barber Poles came up with a huge effort against the Central Division-leading Mississauga Steelheads, winning 5-2 on home ice.
Luca Pinelli came through with another pair of goals, as Caden Kelly scored his first of the season, while Will Gerrior and Brady Stonehouse scored their seventh, and eighth, respectively. Max Donoso halted a personal three-game losing streak, and a two-game skid for the team, making 27 saves for his fourth win of the season.
Struggling to score goals of late, the dam finally broke early for the 67’s. 1:18 in, Kelly deflected home a Henry Mews shot, opening his account on the season against his hometown team.
A little over 11 minutes later, with Ottawa on the powerplay, Gerrior made a gorgeous cross-ice feed to Pinelli, and the captain blasted a one-timer past Ryerson Leenders for a 2-0 lead.
Not done there, Pinelli took a Chris Barlas pass to the net soon after, and snuck his second of the period into the goal, as the home side went into the middle period up by three.
After a scoreless second, Gerrior walked to the middle of the ice and rifled a laser of a shot for his seventh.
Not to be outdone by his captain, Stonehouse converted on a powerplay one-timer of his own soon after, and despite Gabriel Chiarot and Kieran Witkowski breaking Donoso’s shutout bid, the 67’s held on for the convincing victory.
With six games in nine days under their belts, the Barber Poles will enjoy a well-earned reprieve, before visiting the Oshawa Generals on Friday, November 24 at 7:35pm.
