Generals shut down Battalion

BRAMPTON, Ont. – Derek Dolson made 17 saves as the Oshawa Generals beat a flat Battalion squad 3-0 in front of 1,626 fans at the Bunker on Thursday night.
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Sean Stefanski had a goal and an assist for the Generals. Brandon Nolan and Pat Montgomery also scored for the visitors, who directed 33 shots at the Brampton goal.
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Battalion Head Coach Stan Butler was blunt in his assessment of his team´s performance. "I´m very disappointed. From a work ethic standpoint, it was probably the weakest effort I have seen in the four years I have been here. We just didn´t work hard. Oshawa deserves full credit. They outworked us from about the eight minute mark of the first period. If it wasn´t for Brad Topping they would have scored a few more.
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"As a player you can control your effort, your dedication and your conditioning," he continued. "Tonight we didn´t control any of those things."
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Veteran defenceman Jay Harrison echoed Coach Butler´s sentiments. "We had good parts here, and good parts there, we had some chances, but, on the whole, it was a very disappointing effort. We took a step back tonight and that´s something we don´t want to do. Tonight we wanted to build on the Sarnia game (a 2-1 loss last Sunday). In that game, we had a lot of guys going to the net and we had a lot of chances, we just couldn´t get the puck across the line. Tonight we had none of that"
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"We kind of took the night off and I don´t think any of us came to play," observed Topping, who stopped 30 shots in the Brampton net. "Every game in this league is important, and I don´t think you can look at any team and think it will be an easy two points. Tonight Oshawa came in to our building and outworked us and that´s something that should never happen."
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"We can´t be passengers here," said defenceman Paul Flache. "We all have to be on the same page and we all have to work hard or we are going to have more nights like this one."
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The Troops started well. Despite only getting six shots in the first period they forced Dolson to make some big saves, particularly during a power play in the first half of the period. Topping was also called on to make some key stops while the Battalion was killing a Paul Flache slashing penalty late in the period.
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The defensive breakdowns that would plague the team all night led to the first goal of the game at 5:54 of the second period. Oshawa centre Jamie Johnson brought the puck into the Brampton end and drilled a slap shot that Topping stopped. Nolan pounced on the rebound and banged it off the post but Stefanski was on the spot to slip the puck into the open goal.
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Montgomery made it 2-0 fourteen minutes into the second stanza. After Brampton defenceman Corey LeClair was hauled down deep in the Oshawa zone, the Generals broke out on a three-on-one. Ben Eager passed to Tobias Whelan who brought Topping with him. Instead of shooting, Whelan elected to pass to Montgomery, who directed the puck into the open cage.
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Oshawa outshot Brampton 13-5 in the second period and the Battalion´s only scoring opportunity in the frame came with just over two minutes left when rookie blueliner Mike Looby lofted a shot off the crossbar.
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Nolan closed out the scoring only 13 seconds into the third period when he took a pass from Stefanski and wired a wrist shot from the slot over Topping´s left shoulder.
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The Generals outshot the Troops 8-6 in the final frame.
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The Battalion has now scored two goals or less in four of their five games this season.
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"We´re not burying our chances, that´s the bottom line," said centre Jay McClement, who leads the team with two goals. "You can say we didn´t get the shots, but if you don´t take advantage of the chances you do get, it doesn´t matter how many shots you get."
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Ted Perry and Aaron Van Leusen did not dress for the Battalion.
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Kevin Druce, Josh Manning, Luc Chiasson, John Kozoriz and Chad Elliott were scratched for the Generals.
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The Battalion made two roster moves prior to Thursday night´s game.
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Rookie forward Wade Branch has been assigned to the Bowmanville Eagles of the Provincial Junior A League and second-year defenceman Alex MacDonell was traded on Wednesday to the North Bay Centennials for North Bay´s sixth round pick in the 2003 OHL Priority Selection.
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The Troops head to Guelph on Friday night before returning home to face the Toronto St. Michael´s Majors in their annual Thanksgiving Monday matinee. Game time is 2 p.m.
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