Bulldogs land first punch, Barber Poles eye counter in Game 2
Game 1 of the first round of the OHL Playoffs didn’t go the way the Ottawa 67’s were hoping, dropping the decision to the Brantford Bulldogs by a 5-2 scoreline.
The third-seed Bulldogs were sparked by the timely returns of both Cedricson Okitundu, and Nick Lardis, who finished the night with a pair of goals, and an assist. The Barber Poles got goals from Luca Pinelli and Caden Kelly, but ultimately fell short in the special teams battle.
Nine times, the Bulldogs brought their power play unit onto the ice, converting on three of them, including twice in the first period. On the flip side, the Barber Poles failed to find twine on their four opportunities, although one lasted just 20 seconds, and Kelly’s goal came short-handed.
At full strength, the game was much closer than the scoreboard indicated.
“Five-on-five, we played a real good hockey game,” said 67’s Assistant Coach, Norm Milley. “There are a few areas where we have to clean things up, we’ll work on that and look at the video, but overall, our guys competed, and that’s all you can ask for. As long as we get that compete every game, I like our chances.”
The discrepancy on the scoresheet when it comes to trips to the sin bin helps the Barber Poles draw a clear blueprint for Game 2 on Sunday: stay out of the penalty box.
“Being more disciplined is key,” said Frankie Marrelli. “There were a lot of penalty kills, and that affected us, but we know what we have to do next game.”
At times during the contest, the 67’s didn’t seem to be in the good graces of the hockey gods, whether it was a puck hopping over the stick of the normally sure-handed Luca Pinelli, or most notably, the puck hitting the boards behind the net, before squeaking back out front, and into the net midway through the first frame.
The building was already raucous, but each example was only cause for more jeering from the home fans.
“They have a large crowd, and it was loud in there, but that gave us energy, as well,” Marrelli said. “We want to quiet them, and we have to do better at that [in Game 2].”
With a night of sleep at the hotel, the 67’s returned to the rink this morning feeling good about themselves, not fazed by being the victim of the first blow.
“We have to take a minute to breathe,” Milley said. “The emotions are high at playoff time, but you have to have the memory of a goldfish. You have to forget about it and move on, look at the good stuff, and correct the bad. You move forward to Game 2.”
In the grand scheme of things, no series has ever been won or lost after the first game, and as Rocky Balboa famously said, “It ain’t about how hard you’re hit, it’s about how you can get hit and keep moving forward.”
“It’s one game,” Milley stressed. “Our guys should feel good about themselves with the way we battled.”
