Game Recap: Kingston vs. Oshawa
A low-scoring affair had the Kingston Frontenacs (21-21-1-1) fall 2-0 to the Oshawa Generals (17-21-1-3) on Friday night at Leon’s Centre in the first of back-to-back nights of hockey. It was the fifth of eight games on the season series with Kingston holding 3-2-0-0 record as the teams met for a second consecutive Friday night in the Limestone City with the Frontenacs donning their 50th-Year Anniversary jerseys continuing season-long celebrations.
The visiting Gens opened the scoring 88 seconds into the second period on a 1-0 Calum Ritchie goal that carried over to a late empty net tally, and second of the game for Ritchie in a 2-0 final for Oshawa.
Recent named OHL Goaltender of the Week Mason Vaccari made his 17th appearance for Kingston and was solid making 16 saves on 17 Generals shots. The rookie had registered his first career OHL shutout versus Oshawa on Oct 23 and has allowed just a pair of goals against 66 Oshawa shots in three appearances against the Generals this season, including a relief appearance on Dec 28.
It was the 29th appearance for Jacob Oster in the Oshawa pipes and saw 19 Kingston shots for his first career OHL shutout.
Oshawa had the upper hand in play for most of the first period, with Vaccari called upon for eight saves keeping Kingston on par with the visitors on the scoreboard in keeping the Frontenacs with the second-least first period goals given up in the OHL.
Captain Paul Ludwinski was set up by Maddox Callens for a great chance in close of the Gens net on the best scoring opportunity for Kingston in the opening period. Fronts forward Ethan Miedema, recent returned from the CHL Prospects game on Jan 25, had a wrist shot wired for the corner, but Oster made another nice save with his glove helping get the Gens to the first intermission all squared up.
The Generals opened the scoring early in the second frame with their first shot on a Calum Ritchie (18) strike from the slot. After taking a centring pass by Ryan Gagnier, Ritche wired a low shot past Vaccari for the 1-0 goal at 1:22. Oshawa improved to 13-6-1-2 when recording the games first tally.
The Black and Gold went to the games first man advantage just over six minutes into the second but remained scoreless shortly before Ottawa Senators prospect Ben Roger made a board-crashing hit on Oshawa’s Beckett Sennecke in the neutral zone with seven minutes remaining in the frame.
Kingston hit the post on a puck Oster didn’t see after Duncan Schneider let a shot go that was deflected by Owen Outwater on its way to the net.
The Fronts would take a 3-9-0-0 record when trailing after forty minutes to a final twenty minutes that saw a tentative, defensive start with just a shot each through eight minutes of play.
Just past the halfway mark of the third frame, Oshawa was called for the games’ second penalty and Linus Hemstrom had a great shot go off Oster as Kingston looked for the game-tying goal on one of three shots on the man advantage.
With an extra skater, Kingston had some late pressure sustained by Oshawa before they added a second goal by Ritchie (19) into the empty net for the 2-0 final.
Oshawa’s victory returns the shutout Kingston had taken over the Gens on Oct 23 and improve to a 2-3-0-0 record versus Kingston in the season series marking just the second time the Black and Gold were held scoreless in a game this season.
The Fronts bookend back-to-back nights at Leon’s Centre tomorrow with a Western Conference matchup with the London Knights at 7:00 pm.
Scorers:
OSH: Ritchie (18,19)
Powerplays:
KGN: (0/2)
OSH: (0/0)
BMW of Kingston Hardest Worker
Chris Thibodeau
Three Star Awards:
- Calum Ritchie OSH – (2G, GWG)
- Jacob Oster OSH – (1st OHL Shutout)
- Ryan Gagnier OSH – (1A)
Fronts Notes:
- D Nolan Ling – selected in the first round of 2022 U18 OHL Priority Selection) made his OHL Debut KGN
- Nov 23 – Frontenacs Hockey Club officially announced its bid for rights to host the 2024 Memorial Cup presented by Kia
- F Ethan Miedema – played in CHL Prospects Game Jan 25 in B.C.
- G Mason Vaccari -Named OHL Goaltender of the Week – recorded 1st career OHL shutout versus OSH Oct 23 – now allowed just 2 G on 66 shots versus Osh in three appearances
Team Stat Pack – GP (44) (21-21-1-1) 44 pts
Leaders:
Goals –Soto, Thibodeau (13), Miedema (11), Outwater (10)
PPG – Ludwinski, Soto (5), Miedema (3)
Assists – Soto (23), Miedema (22), Ludwinski (21)
PPA – Hemström (10), Burns (9), Outwater (7)
Points –Soto (36), Miedema (33), Ludwinski, Outwater, Hemström (28)
PPP – Ludwinski, Soto (11), Burns, Hemström (10)
SOG –Thibodeau (84), Soto (80), Outwater (75)
Plus/Minus –Burns (+6),Miedema (+5), McGowan (+4)
PIMs – Burns (77), Budnick (52), Uens (41)
On The Front
Kingston plays back-to-back nights at home with the Western Conference London Knights visiting Kingston for Women in Sports Night tomorrow, Saturday, Jan 28, at Leon’s Centre at 7:00 pm.
The night will celebrate the accomplishments of women in sports and looks to inspire the next generation of superstar athletes and leaders in our community. We are excited to have special guests Janine Charron (Former National Women’s Hockey League Player) and Jackie Jarrell (Team Canada’s Inline Hockey Captain and Two-time World Champion) for the memorable event. Both women will participate in a ceremonial puck drop and are available to meet and greet with fans.
96.3 Big FM and 104.3 Fresh Radio are your exclusive home for play-by-play with Jim Gilchrist and Kingston Frontenacs Hockey! Fans can listen live to all the games at https://frontenacs.leanplayer.com/. Fans can also tune into the game at https://watch.chl.ca/ (subscription needed).
Fans are encouraged to follow the team’s social media channels on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for live updates!
