It may be that people are starting to take Ottawa 67’s netminder Petr Mrazek for granted.

Starting his sixth consecutive game in just 10 days, Mrazek made 35 saves in 65 minutes of regulation and overtime, then went a perfect 5-for-5 in the shootout as the 67’s survived blowing a 3-0 third-period lead before pulling out a 4-3 victory against the Oshawa Generals in an Ontario Hockey League game before a crowd of 7,696 at the Rona Centre.

Amazingly not only was Mrazek not named first star of the game, he wasn’t even considered good enough for second and third, not that it bothered him. Nor did all the pucks fired his way.

“I like lots of work,” said the Czech goalie, who has had full-time duty since the 67’s traded Chris Perugini to the Soo Greyhounds. “The more shots the better. Five (a period) is not enough. Fifteen is better.”

It’s a good thing Mrazek likes rubber. He also faced 30-plus in Friday’s loss to the Brampton Battalion.

Mrazek’s teammates, however, are struggling to hit the target at the other end. After firing just 18 shots at Brampton’s net on Friday, the 67’s mustered 10 in the first period on Oshawa, but just three in the second, three in the third and three in overtime.

Shot totals like that are easy on the stick budget, but they don’t make for many scoring chances.

“We must figure out a way to get more (scoring) opportunities,” 67’s head coach Chris Byrne said. “We don’t want to just chuck the puck at the net from anywhere.

“But it’s almost like we’re trying to make the perfect play. We’ve got to generate more opportunities.”

The teams traded misses in the shootout, with the Generals (6-3-2) failing on repeated attempts to deke Mrazek, while the 67’s (8-4-0) couldn’t capitalize until captain Thomas Nesbitt finally put an end to things by beating Oshawa’s Michael Zador between the legs.

The 67’s were up 3-0 with less than 16 minutes to play, but Alain Berger on a power play at 4:45, Scott Laughton at 8:16 and Calvin de Haan of Carp, again on a power play at 18:53, tied it for Oshawa.

“It’s tough giving up a three-goal lead, but it’s great to win in a shootout,” Byrne said.

The contest did have many upsides for the 67’s, including the work of No. 1 draft pick Sean Monahan, who stepped in to replace an ailing Tyler Graovac on the third line.

The biggest positive was the opening 20 minutes, when, unlike previous games, the 67’s actually broke a collective sweat and built a 2-0 lead on goals by Tyler Toffoli and Cody Ceci.

Toffoli came right back after flubbing a 2-on-1 break with Dalton Smith, stripping the puck from an Oshawa defender and beating Zador with a shot at 11:39.

Ceci blasted a shot from the point past Zador at 17:22.

The 67’s struggled offensively in the second period, without a single shot until past the 14-minute mark, but still managed the period’s lone goal, with Gibbons taking a pass from Nesbitt and scoring to make it 3-0.

Ottawa’s next game is in Belleville against the Bulls on Wednesday night. The Peterborough Petes pay a visit to Ottawa on Friday night.

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