IceDogs stall Troops’ playoff march
BRAMPTON, Ont. – Oskar Osala scored two goals and added one assist to power the Mississauga IceDogs to a 7-4 victory Sunday over the Brampton Battalion, snapping the Troops’ three-game Ontario Hockey League winning streak.
With the loss before 3,268 who saw what may have been the last meeting of the Peel Region rivals, the Battalion stayed four points ahead of the idle Peterborough Petes for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. The Troops, who would have clinched at least a home-ice tie-breaker with a win, have two games left in the regular season and the Petes three.
Stefan Legein also had two goals and Chris Lawrence, Alex Pietrangelo and Jean-Michel Rizk one each for the IceDogs, who won a third straight game to move their won-lost-extended record to 41-21-3 for 85 points, second in the Central Division. Goaltender Andrew Loverock made 24 saves.
Cody Hodgson scored two goals for the Battalion, which got singles from Thomas Stajan and Justin Levac. Jason Dale had two assists, while goaltender Bryan Pitton faced 36 shots for the Troops, 26-35-5 for 57 points, fourth in the division.
Coach Stan Butler said the Battalion, which saw a four-game home winning streak ended, missed defenceman and captain John de Gray, sidelined with flu.
“You really don’t know how much you miss a guy like de Gray until he’s out of your lineup. He takes so many minutes, and with him gone you have other guys playing against players they normally wouldn’t be out against. A team like Mississauga has three pretty good lines, and it really hurt having our top defenceman out.”
Butler said the Battalion couldn’t afford to fall behind the IceDogs, who lead the OHL with 310 goals.
“They aren’t a team you can give odd-man rushes and play run-and gun hockey against. They’re the top-scoring team in the league for a reason, and when we’ve had success against them this season we haven’t been giving up those rushes and we’ve been keeping the goals and shots down.
“But our guys didn’t quit. They battled back to make it 5-3 and we had some good chances at that time, but we couldn’t take advantage of them.”
The IceDogs scored four first-period goals, starting at 4:23 when Lawrence one-timed his club-record 44th goal of the season off a Michael Swift pass. Legein scored shorthanded at 5:11, converting his own rebound from the deep slot.
Stajan replied at 9:44 when he chipped a loose puck past Loverock from the lip of the crease.
Defenceman Pietrangelo connected on the power play at 12:31 when his shot from the left point caromed off Dale’s stick, and Rizk scored shorthanded at 18:07, beating Pitton between the legs from deep in the right-wing circle.
“Giving up one shorthanded goal in a game can be a backbreaker,” said Butler. “To give up two really hurt today.”
Hodgson cut Mississauga’s lead to 4-2 at 3:29 of the second period. He collected the rebound of a Luke Lynes shot, spun deep into the left-wing circle and snapped a shot over Loverock’s shoulder.
Osala scored on the power play at 15:00 before Hodgson gave the Troops hope early in the third period with the teams skating four a side. Hodgson collected the rebound of a Dale shot, wheeled behind the net and jammed his 23rd goal inside the left post at 2:29.
“I thought Cody was great today,” said Butler. “He was our best forward. Of all our players he seemed to have the most energy and he was going the whole game. I was aware of that in the third and I tried to get him more ice time.”
Osala scored his 20th goal at 12:13, and Legein netted his 41st when he finished off a two-on-one rush with Jordan Owens at 14:05. Levac scored 23 seconds later, burying a Graham McNabb pass from the right–wing circle.
Apart from de Gray, the Battalion scratched Mike Lomas and Michal Klejna. Lucas Lobsinger, Dylan MacEachern, Scott Fletcher, Matt Corrente, Chris DeSousa, Travis Fuller and Stevan Manojlovic were scratched for the IceDogs, who dressed 17 skaters, one below the limit.
The Battalion hosts the Belleville Bulls at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
BATTALION NOTEBOOK: The Battalion went 0-for-4 on the power play. Mississauga was 2-for-4 … The Battalion has allowed 91 power-play goals, eclipsing the club record of 89 set last season … The Battalion is 13-15-4 at home. Mississauga is 22-10-1 on the road … Opening Battalion line combinations included John Hughes centring left winger McNabb and Levac on right wing, Hodgson between left winger Lynes and right winger Dale and Stajan centring John Seymour on left wing and right winger Matt Smyth. Kevin Christmas centred left winger Conor O’Donnell and right winger Kyle DeCoste … Levac’s 12th goal was his first in 16 games … McNabb extended a points streak to eight games. He has six goals and seven assists for 13 points in the run … Hughes had a points streak ended at eight games. He had three goals and 10 assists for 13 points during the streak … Stajan was checked heavily into the boards by Mississauga’s Joshua Day at 3:46 of the third period. Day got a minor for boarding. Stajan returned to play … Dalyn Flatt and Rizk received majors for a second-period wrestling match … Corrente is serving a six-game suspension … Fletcher has missed three games with a foot injury, while Fuller has a broken arm … The Battalion was 2-5-1 against Mississauga this season … Owner Eugene Melnyk hopes to have the IceDogs sold and relocated in time to move his other team, the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors, into Mississauga’s Hershey Centre next season. The Battalion has an all-time won-lost-tied record of 36-23-5, including three overtime losses, against the IceDogs since the clubs entered the OHL together in 1998-99.
