Attack topple Barrie for 7th straight win
The Owen Sound Attack rang the new year in with a win, taking down the Barrie Colts 5-1 at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre on Sunday, Jan. 1.
A pair of goals by both Chase Campbell and Kevin Hancock as well as a solid performance in net by Michael McNiven allowed the Attack to dispatch of their Eastern Conference rivals for the 4th time in 2016-17, and pick up their 7th straight win in the process.
The Attack came out determined to increase their winning streak to seven games and hemmed the Colts in their zone early.
After quickly jumping out to a large lead on the shot clock, the Attack would find the back of the net on a gorgeous three way passing play that resulted in Chase Campbell going top shelf for his 10th of the year.
A turnover at the Attack blueline would allow Sean Durzi to break from the zone and quickly find Ethan Szypula with an outlet pass. After crossing the Colts’ blueline, Szypula dropped the puck to Maksim Sushko who went cross ice to Campbell for the 1-0 lead at the 8:15 mark of the 1st period.
Owen Sound would continue to press in the frame, but were unable to generate another goal due to the solid netminding of Ruan Badenhorst.
Badenhorst’s play in the Colts cage gave the visitors a bit of momentum as the 1st wound to a close, but Michael McNiven would continue his streak of scoreless hockey and the home side would take their one goal advantage into the intermission.
But when the teams returned to the ice for the 2nd period, Owen Sound’s lead would be quickly erased.
A turnover near centre-ice and a bad line change by the Attack allowed Cameron Lizotte to spring Lucas Chiodo on a breakaway and the slight Colts forward made no mistake on the backhander, levelling the game at one apiece.
The goal brought Michael McNiven’s shutout streak to an end after the Montreal Canadiens prospect had gone 174:38 without allowing a marker dating back to Owen Sound’s Dec. 9 win over Guelph.
Barrie seemed to gain momentum from their goal and proceeded to trap the Attack deep in their zone for the next few minutes, but another quick break out by Sean Durzi allowed Owen Sound to restore their lead and make it a 2-1 game.
Durzi would go streaking across the blueline before slipping the puck through a Colts’ defender’s legs and along the ice to Kevin Hancock, who danced around another Barrie defenceman before going fivehole for his 15th goal of the season at 8:39 of the stanza.
Hancock’s goal would breath some life into the Attack and they seemed set to trample the Colts for the rest of the period, but some penalty trouble would catch up to the Bears.
Minors to Sean Durzi and Markus Phillips, less than two minutes apart, would force Owen Sound’s VR Collision Penalty Kill Unit to fend off the Colts, and to the delight of the fans in attendance, they were able to do just that.
A pair of key shot blocks by Nick Suzuki would give Owen Sound the relief they needed and the home side would skate into the 3rd period with their 2-1 lead intact.
When play resumed in the 3rd, the Attack would need their penalty kill unit to continue it’s stellar play and thanks to their continuously flawless performance, Owen Sound would be given a chance to capitalize on a man advantage of their own with 7:24 left in the game.
And Nick Suzuki would do just that, setting off a flurry of goals for the Attack.
Just 20 seconds after the man advantage began, Suzuki would take a pass in the slot from Santino Centorame and rip it between the wickets of Badenhorst to make it a 3-1 lead for the Attack. Sean Durzi would also assist on the play, giving him a pair of helpers on the afternoon.
But Owen Sound wasn’t done there.
Just under 3:00 after Suzuki made it 3-1, Chase Campbell would score his 2nd of the afternoon to make it a three goal Attack lead off of a gorgeous set up by Maksim Sushko.
Kevin Hancock would then go on to ice the game, scoring his 2nd of the afternoon on a wicked snapshot with 3:46 left in the contest to make it 5-1 for Owen Sound.
And that’s how things would finish as well as the Attack skated away to their 7th straight win thanks to an explosive 3rd period of action.
Michael McNiven would turn aside 22 shots in the win as the Mark McDade ReMax Shots on Goal finished at 39-23 for Owen Sound on the afternoon. His performance in goal would earn him the Hatten Home Building Centre Hardest Working Player of the Game nod, while the Attack would also sweep the Mac Taylor Corporation 3 Stars.
Sean Durzi was named the game’s 1st star while Chase Campbell picked up 2nd star honours. Captain Santino Centorame was named the game’s 3rd star in the win.
Sunday’s game marked the first of five straight home games for the Attack, a stretch that will continue on Wednesday, Jan. 4 when the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds come to town.
Tickets for that game, which begins at 7:00pm, are available at the MacVicar & McComb ReMax Box Office, online at www.attackhockey.com, or by calling 519-371-7452.
