Down but Not Out
Brampton, ON – The Oshawa Generals outlasted the Brampton Steelheads 4-1 to send Brampton to a must-win game five tomorrow night.
Round One. Game Four. After the Generals took the series lead on Tuesday, the Steelheads returned to Brampton in hopes of tying the series at two.
The playoff tensions of the pivotal game four were on display early, as both sides worked early to establish a physical forecheck. As a result, each team struggled to get clean breakouts from their defensive zones.
The first dangerous chance of the game came at the halfway point in the frame. Ben Danford carried the puck up the ice for the Generals before floating a pass to Beckett Sennecke at the line. The Anaheim Ducks prospect stormed down the right wing and cut to the backhand. Jack Ivankovic stayed with him, sliding over to kick it out.
The Steelheads came back with a chance of their own with just over six minutes left in the opening frame. When Finn Harding lofted the puck into the Oshawa zone, Kieran Witkowski turned on the jets to pick up the loose puck behind the Generals’ defenders. Witkowski cut to the backhand, but his bid was kicked away by a sprawling Jacob Oster.
With two minutes left in the period, Oshawa took the first lead of the game. Luca D’Amato jumped in from the point, snapping a pass to Calum Ritchie at the right circle. The New York Islanders prospect showed why he was a first-round pick, as he spun a feed right to the tape of Beckett Sennecke, who made no mistake.
The Steelheads thought they found the equalizer at the end of the first period, but they were unable to beat the buzzer. After the Steelheads’ forecheck created a turnover, Lucas Karmiris tried to find Gabe Chiarot on the backdoor. The puck slid just out of Chiarot’s reach, but Parker Von Richter followed the puck to the corner, where he slid a pass to Chiarot in the slot. This time, Chiarot did not miss, as he deflected the puck past the shoulder of Oster. Unfortunately for the Steelheads, the horn sounded right before the puck crossed the goal line.
Oshawa came out flying to start the second, doubling their lead in the first two minutes of play. Owen Griffin started the play by intercepting a Brampton clearing attempt. The draft-eligible prospect left it at the blue line for Colby Barlow, who stormed in on a two-on-one. With Barlow being one of the league’s most dangerous shooters, Ivankovic was forced to respect the shot, allowing Barlow to catch him off guard with a pass to Beckett Sennecke. The Ducks prospect stayed hot, deflecting home his second goal of the night.
A couple of minutes later, Colby Barlow nearly extended the Oshawa lead. The Winnipeg Jets prospect flew in from the blue line, unleashing a powerful snapshot on goal that was turned away by Ivankovic. Barlow followed up the rebound with a second opportunity on the doorstep, but Ivankovic stuck with it to keep the game within two.
Action picked up at the twelve-minute mark, with both sides exchanging looks. First, Oshawa found Noah Powell for a breakaway with a stretch pass. Then, Brampton returned fire with Aidan Lane hitting Luke Misa up ice. The speedster fired a hard shot on goal, but he was unable to beat Oster.
Jack Ivankovic kept the game in reach with another huge stop on Colby Barlow. Though Andrew Gibson is more of a defensive defenceman, he showed off his offensive skillset with a strong forecheck, allowing him to find Barlow in the slot. The sniper tried to drive to the far side, but Ivankovic slid with him to make the save.
With seven minutes to play, the Steelheads answered back to cut the lead in half. With Luca D’Amato in the box for tripping, Brampton took advantage of the man advantage. Finn Harding worked the blue line, creating space to find Porter Martone at the left hash mark. The Steelheads’ captain dusted the puck off before picking his spot over the shoulder of Oster.
After the teams exchanged chances, the Generals regained their two-goal lead in the final minute. The Generals kicked things off in their own zone with a clean breakout off a defensive zone draw. Ben Danford stormed up the right wing, where he floated a shot off the pad of Ivankovic. Luke Torrance was left uncontested on the doorstep, and he made the Steelheads pay, jamming the rebound into the empty net. His first of the playoffs sent the Steelheads to the dressing room trailing 3-1.
The Generals pressed to extend their lead at the start of the third period with a threatening power play. The Oshawa top unit controlled play for nearly the full two minutes, but the Steelheads clogged the shooting lanes to allow only one shot on goal.
Both sides exchanged chances throughout the next ten minutes, but neither allowed the other any high-quality looks.
With five minutes to play, the ice opened up as matching penalties sent us to four-on-four. The Steelheads nearly took advantage of the extra space when Finn Harding circled the zone before throwing a shot on goal. Harding’s wrister sailed through traffic past the screened Oster, but it rang off the post.
The Steelheads pulled Jack Ivankovic with three minutes to play in hopes of sparking a comeback, but the Generals put those hopes away with an empty net goal. Owen Griffin stripped the puck on the breakout before flipping the launching a puck into the empty cage. Griffin’s empty netter brought us to a final score of 4-1.
Brampton is back in action tomorrow night in Oshawa for a crucial game five.
