DiFruscia Lifts IceDogs
Powered by an Anthony DiFruscia hat-trick, the Niagara IceDogs topped the Windsor Spitfires 8-4 Sunday afternoon at the Meridian Centre.
DiFruscia scored twice in the first and Cody Payne added his 12th goal of the season to give the IceDogs a 3-0 lead after one.
It didn’t take long for DiFruscia to complete the hat-trick. He scored his 24th of the season just 1:09 into the second period on the power play to make it 4-0. Vince Dunn also scored a power play marker, his 17th goal of the season. Jamie Lewis answered for the Spitfires to make it 5-1, but former Spitfire Josh Ho-Sang fed another former Spitfires Jordan Maletta, who scored to make it 6-1. Ryan Mantha added his 9th of the season before the end of the middle frame.
Slater Dogget made it 7-2 at 8:08 of the third, but Brendan Perlini answered with his 25th of the season. Lucas Venuto and Trevor Murphy added goals for the Spitfires, but the IceDogs were just too much as they held on to win 8-4, grabbing all four possible points this weekend.
Brent Moran made 24 saves in the win for the IceDogs.
They continue their push for home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs when they host the Barrie Colts Thursday night.
GAME SUMMARY
SCORING
FIRST PERIOD
NIA DIFRUSCIA (22) (AAGAARD) 3:09
NIA PAYNE (12) (CORNEIL, SIEBENALER) 6:34
NIA DIFRUSCIA (23) (PERLINI, DUNN) 11:15 PP
SECOND PERIOD
NIA DIFRUSCIA (24) (VERHAEGHE, DUNN) 1:09 PP
NIA DUNN (17) (HO-SANG, DIFRUSCIA) 2:05 PP
WSR LEWIS (18) (DIGIACINTO, VENUTO) 5:47 PP
NIA MALETTA (21) (HO-SANG) 16:46
NIA MANTHA (9) (CORNEIL, PAQUETTE) 17:01
THIRD PERIOD
WSR DOGGETT (24) (LUCHUK, VENUTO) 8:08
NIA PERLINI (25) (JENKINS, VERHAEGHE) 10:58
WSR VENUTO (22) (DOGGETT, CHATFIELD) 11:23
WSR MURPHY (22) (VERTIY) 14:22
SHOTS
NIA 13 – 23 – 5 = 41
WSR 8 – 11 – 9 = 28
PPS
NIA 3-for-7
WSR 1-for-2
