67’s season ends in Brantford

The Ottawa 67’s battled hard at the end of the season, but on Sunday afternoon against the Brantford Bulldogs, it came to an end, suffering a 7-2 loss.

The Bulldogs were the quicker of the two teams out of the gates, scoring the game’s first goal a little over eight minutes into the opening frame. Daniel Chen, who joined the club as a defenceman, but has since become a forward, finished off a loose puck at the side of the net for his second goal of the campaign.

Likely unaware of the Battalion’s 2-0 lead, Filip Ekberg fired a shot on target. The puck took a couple of deflections, and then somehow squealed through the Bulldogs’ goaltender, levelling the score and extending the Swedish import’s point streak to 11 games.

With time winding down in the first, the Bulldogs broke into Ottawa’s zone with a short-handed odd-man rush, which Nikolas Rossetto finished off past a sliding Collin MacKenzie, restoring Brantford’s one-goal lead into the intermission.

In the second, the Bulldogs used four goals to pad their lead, and blew to doors off the place. Down 6-1, and with their playoff lives hanging by a thread, the Barber Poles got one back courtesy of rookie standout Kohyn Eshkawkogan, but they still needed a miraculous third period effort.

Midway through the third period, the Battalion’s victory became official, and the Barber Poles’ fate was sealed, they’d miss the postseason for the first time since 2014.

To add insult to injury, Rossetto added another late in the game, sealing the deal on a 7-2 win.

Box score

Teams	Score	Shots on goal	Power plays
Ottawa	2	35	0/3
Brantford	7	33	0/2

 

First period

1-0: BFD #27 Daniel Chen (2) scores. Assists: #23 Braeden O’Keefe, #20 Luca Diplacido

1-1: OTT #34 Filip Ekberg (16) scores. Assists: #22 Matthew Mayich

2-1: BFD #19 Nikolas Rossetto (8) scores. Assists: #11 Noah Nelson, #12 Owen Protz SHORT HANDED

Second Period

3-1: BFD #11 Noah Nelson (9) scores. Assists: #18 Dylan Tsherna, #14 Calvin Crombie

4-1: BFD #18 Dylan Tsherna (4) scores. Assists: #14 Calvin Crombie, #4 Lucas Moore

5-1: BFD #23 Braeden O’Keefe (1) scores. Assists: #27 Daniel Chen, #20 Luca Diplacido

6-1: BFD #10 Niko Krmpotic (2) scores. Assists: #11 Noah Nelson, #18 Dylan Tsherna

6-2: OTT #19 Kohyn Eshkawkogan (4) scores. Assists: #34 Filip Ekberg, #29 Cooper Foster

Third Period

7-2: BFD #19 Nikolas Rossetto (9) scores. Assists: #29 Layne Gallacher, #12 Owen Protz

Up next

With the season coming to a close, the next step for the Barber Poles will be the OHL Draft Lottery.