Niagara torrent sweeps away Troops
BRAMPTON, Ont. – Luca Caputi’s shorthanded goal sparked a four-goal second-period flurry that carried the Niagara IceDogs to a 5-4 victory Monday over the Brampton Battalion in the Troops’ traditional Thanksgiving Day game.
Caputi had one goal and one assist and Reggie Traccitto, Andrew Agozzino, Drew Schiestel and Stefan Legein one goal each for Niagara, which has won its last five games to move its won-lost-extended record to 6-1-0 for 12 points and first place in the Central Division. Goaltender Andrew Loverock made 38 saves for the IceDogs, who host the Battalion in a return engagement at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Bobby Sanguinetti, Brad Albert, Justin Levac and Jason Dale scored for the Battalion, 3-2-1 for seven points and third place in the division, one point behind the Barrie Colts. John Hughes and Cody Hodgson each contributed two assists, while goaltender Patrick Killeen faced 36 shots.
“For about four minutes, we stopped competing and, to their credit, they took advantage of it,” said Battalion coach Stan Butler. “We had some opportunities we couldn’t take advantage of.
“The difference was they were able to finish a lot better around the net than we did. I thought the scoring chances were pretty equal, but we missed some open nets. We need to be strong on our sticks around the net, and that’s what guys like Caputi, Legein and Michael Swift do for them.”
Butler praised the 17-year-old Killeen, who has played every game this season.
“I thought Killeen had a great game. He’s given us consistently good goaltending through this stretch of games he’s played.”
The Battalion, which won 5-4 at St. Catharines on Sept. 23, carried a 2-1 lead into the second period, but the IceDogs responded with four goals in a span of 3:45.
Penalty killer Caputi tied it 2-2 with his sixth goal of the season at 3:11, converting off a scramble, and Agozzino connected at 4:23 when he finished off a three-on-two rush.
Defenceman Schiestel made it 4-2 at 4:40, beating Killeen with a low shot from the right point, and Legein capped the outburst with what proved to be the winner at 6:56, tipping home a Caputi feed at the lip of the crease. Replays showed the play was clearly offside.
Butler called for a timeout after Legein’s team-leading ninth goal.
“I told the players we needed to get back to what made us successful in the first period and to get away from the things that were hurting us for that spurt in the second period,” said Butler. “We know what kind of team they are and how to play them, but we got away from it.”
The Battalion responded, with Levac scoring 28 seconds later when he fired a shot inside the left post. Assists went to Thomas Middup and Matt Duchene. Middup, an eighth-round pick in the 2006 OHL Priority Selection, earned his first point in his OHL debut.
Dale pulled the Troops within one goal at 6:27 of the third period, burying a Hodgson feed from deep in the left-wing circle.
Killeen went to the bench for a sixth attacker with 55 seconds left to play. The Battalion had two excellent scoring chances, but Loverock denied Graham McNabb at the left post before Alexander Eriksson’s shot was blocked in the deep slot.
Traccitto opened the scoring at 3:21 of the first period, taking a pass from Matthew Maione and breaking in alone to snap a shot over Killeen’s glove.
Defenceman Sanguinetti’s team-leading seventh goal tied it at 9:26. Hughes carried the puck into the Niagara zone and dished it to Sanguinetti, who wristed a shot from high in the left-wing circle.
Defenceman Albert put the Troops ahead with a power-play goal at 11:47. Albert took a pass from Hodgson, stickhandled into the deep slot and beat Loverock with a low shot inside the left post. The goal was the second of Albert’s OHL career and his first since a 3-1 win over the visiting Sarnia Sting on Oct. 15, 2006.
Battalion scratches were Bryan Pitton, Ben Alavie, Conor O’Donnell, Scott Tanski and Mike Lomas. Niagara, which dressed 18 players, two below the limit, was without Lucas Lobsinger, Stephen Ceccanese, Chris VanLaren, Alex Friesen, Matt Corrente and Chris DeSousa.
BATTALION NOTEBOOK: Attendance was 2,011 … The Battalion went 1-for-7 on the power play. Niagara was 0-for-3 … The Troops failed to score during a two-man advantage lasting 1:11 late in the second period … The Battalion has a won-lost-tied record of 7-3-0 on Thanksgiving Day. The Troops had won their previous six games on the holiday dating to a 3-2 loss to the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors on Oct. 9, 2000 … The Battalion has a won-lost-extended mark of 1-2-0 at home, while Niagara is 2-0-0 on the road … The Battalion has allowed four shorthanded goals … Opening Battalion line combinations included Hodgson centring left winger Luke Lynes and right winger Dale, Hughes skating between left winger McNabb and right winger Kyle DeCoste and Duchene centring left winger Levac and right winger Middup. Thomas Stajan centred left winger Luke VanMoerkerke and right winger Kevin Christmas … Albert leveled Dylan MacEachern with an open-ice hit in the ninth minute of the first period … Christmas and Scott Fletcher squared off in a third-period bout … O’Donnell, who sat out the previous two games with a suspension, was sick, while Lomas missed a second consecutive game with a hip pointer … Battalion defenceman Jaroslav Hertl returned from a two-game suspension … Killeen again was backed up by 16-year-old Brandon Foote. Pitton is recovering from an ankle injury suffered last month … Corrente is out with a wrist injury, while VanLaren and DeSousa were serving suspensions from the IceDogs’ 7-3 win over the visiting Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors last Thursday night. VanLaren is out a minimum of three games, while DeSousa got two games.
