Round 3 Game 1: Oshawa gets the upper hand in series opening game
Oshawa, Ont., – The Oshawa Generals battle from behind to take down the North Bay Battalion in Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals 4-2.
Stuart Rolofs earned himself the first star of the game striking twice for the Gens, Calum Ritchie had a pair of assists, and Connor Lockhart had a goal and an assist. It was Jacob Oster in net for Oshawa and after letting the first two shots in he figured it out stopping 24 shots in a row.
North Bay opened the series scoring as it was Sandis Vilmanis jumping into the playoff lead for points skating the puck down the ice and playing give and go at the blue line before beating Oster making it 1-0 Battalion.
Just under a minute and a half later, the leading goal scorer Dalyn Wakely in the playoffs got on the board taking the puck hard to the net before making a move to the backhand to beat Oster and make it 2-0.
Oshawa would cut the lead in half on a 5-on-3 powerplay as Calum Ritchie’s shot snuck through Mike McIvor and it was Rolofs jumping on the loose puck burying it into an empty net cutting it to 2-1.
The Generals would tie things up at 2-2 in the second period when Lockhart sprung Rolofs on a partial breakaway and the captain made no mistake beating McIvor through the legs.
It was all Gens in the third, as Luca Marrelli scored his first career OHL playoff goal as he fired a shot that managed to squeak through the North Bay netminder making it a 3-2 game.
To cap it all off Calum Ritchie got in on the forecheck stripping the puck from the Battalion defenceman before finding Lockhart in the slot and the overager put the puck in the empty net making it 4-2 Gens.
The Oshawa Generals take on the North Bay Battalion in game two on Sunday, April 28th get your tickets here.
