Game Preview: Storm welcome Attack in first of home-and-home series
In the first of back-to-back games, the Guelph Storm begin the new year hosting the Owen Sound Attack on Friday at 7:30pm.
Steph Coratti, GuelphStorm.com
The Guelph Storm will look to kick off the New Year with a win as they welcome the Owen Sound Attack to the Sleeman Centre on Friday. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:30pm.
The Storm closed out 2014, a historic championship year, with a 20-14-1-1 record and a 4-3 loss to the Erie Otters on New Years Eve. The loss was Guelph’s fifth in their last six games.
Hoping to keep the recent skid out of the new year, the Storm will begin the home-and-home series looking for their third win of four games over the Attack this season. The last two contests between these divisional rivals have been decided with a shootout, with the Storm grabbing the win last in a 4-3 result on Dec. 12.
On the visiting side, the Owen Sound Attack have already began 2015 with a 5-4 shootout victory over another Midwest resident in the Kitchener Rangers on Jan. 1. The Rangers were ahead 4-2 until the Attack came back to tie the game in the final minute of regulation. With the win, the Attack are only two points back of tying the Storm who sit in third of the division.
Emphasizing the importance of divisional match-ups, the back-to-back games ahead for the Storm and the Attack have the potential to pull Guelph ahead in the standings, or see Owen Sound leapfrog over the defending champions.
Player Watch
Tyler Bertuzzi, the leading point-getter on the Storm roster, is coming off his 14th multi-point game this season after registering a goal and an assist against the Erie Otters on Dec. 31. The Detroit Red Wings prospect is ranked 11th in OHL points with 49 (21 goals, 28 assists) and has compiled three goals and one assist in three games against the Attack this season. One point away from hitting his first 50-point season, Bertuzzi is also one goal away from the 50-career goal mark. In addition to No. 17’s offensive threat, the Sudbury, Ontario native leads the Storm in plus-minus with a plus-15 rating.
Storm captain Jason Dickinson has also been one to watch on the attack as of late. Since being returned to Guelph from Team Canada’s 2015 World Junior Championship roster, Dickinson has been elevating his game in the offensive zone. The Dallas Stars prospect was arguably the best player for the Storm up front in Guelph’s 3-0 loss to the Barrie Colts on Dec. 28, and converted on his consistent hard work in Erie on New Years Eve for one goal and one assist. The Georgetown, Ontario native has played in two games this season against the Attack, finding the back of the net once. Dickinson is producing at more than a point-per-game rate with 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) in 26 games played.
Second-year forward Adam Craievich is one to watch as well. Craievich registered a goal against the Otters on Dec. 31, and is one point away from matching his career-high of 10 points set in 41 games in his rookie season in 2013-14.
The Opponent: Owen Sound Attack (16-10-2-6, 40 points)
For the Storm, the most significant thing heading into Friday and Saturday’s match-ups against the Owen Sound Attack is where this Midwest rival sits in the standings. With the Storm in third of the division with 42 points in 36 games played this season, the Attack have the opportunity to tie – and leapfrog – Guelph if Owen Sound manages to pull out two victories this weekend. The Attack have 40 points on the season in 34 games, currently two points back of the Storm with two games in hand.
The Attack are coming off a strong 5-4 comeback victory over the Kitchener Rangers on Jan. 1, starting off 2015 with a character win. Kitchener jumped ahead 4-2 minutes into the third period, a lead that was cut by Ethan Szypula at the 10:11 mark and then erased by a tying goal by Zach Nastasiuk with 1:07 remaining in the game. Kyle Platzer and Petrus Palmu both scored in the shootout for the win. Owen Sound defenseman Chris Bigras was named the game’s first star with four assists.
Bigras is third on the Attack roster in scoring with 39 points (12 goals, 27 assists) in 32 games, and is coming off setting a career high (39) in points against the Rangers. A prospect of the Colorado Avalanche, Bigras is ranked first overall among OHL defenseman – one point ahead of Mitchell Vande Sompel of the Oshawa Generals.
Platzer, a fourth round selection of the Edmonton Oilers in 2013, leads Owen Sound with 46 points (17 goals, 29 assists) and sits 13th overall in the OHL. The 1995-born forward has two goals and two assists in three games against the Storm this season.
The Attack have compiled a 4-3-1-2 record in their last ten games played, and will look to build on their first win in 2015 with a second victory over yet another Midwest opponent as they hit the Sleeman Centre ice on Friday.
Season Series — Guelph 2, Owen Sound 1
- Oct. 4: Guelph 3, Owen Sound 2
In a game that featured a total of 15 penalty infractions, four goals were scored on the man-advantage – including the game winner netted by Garrett McFadden to close out a highlight reel end-to-end rush in the final period of play.
Owen Sound took a 2-1 lead into the third with two first period markers scored by Ethan Szypula and Daniel Milne. Separating the Attack’s goals, Pius Suter got the Storm on the board with the game’s only even strength tally.
Jason Dickinson tied the game up at two 5:53 into the third. McFadden did the heavy lifting five minutes later to score his first of the season and solidify the victory.
The Storm outshot the Attack 40-28, with Owen Sound netminder Jack Flinn turning aside 37 in a strong performance between the pipes.
- Oct. 25: Owen Sound 3, Guelph 2 (SO)
For the second consecutive match-up, the Storm fired 40 shots on the Attack goal with Michael McNiven rising to the occasion with 38 saves, earning the game’s first star.
Outside of the shot clock, the contest was a nail biter with the team’s exchanging second and third period goals before having the result decided with a shootout. Tyler Bertuzzi had both goals for the Storm with Robby Fabbri and Zac Leslie adding the helpers on both tallies. Kyle Platzer and Petrus Palmu found the back of the net for the Attack.
In the shootout, Palmu, Platzer, and Ethan Szypula all scored for the win, while Jason Dickinson had the lone goal for the Storm.
- Dec. 12: Guelph 4, Owen Sound 3 (SO) (Last Match-Up)
GAME NOTES
- Tyler Bertuzzi is one point away from his first 50-point season, and one goal away from 50 career OHL goals.
- Adam Craievich is one point away from matching his career-high of 10 points set as a rookie in 2013-14 in 41 games played. Craievich has three goals and six assists for nine points in 36 games this season.
- Friday’s match-up against Owen Sound will be Guelph’s first game of 2015.
- The Storm put their 11-6-1-0 home record up against the Attack’s 6-7-2-3 road record.
- Guelph ended a memorable 2014 with a 4-3 loss to the Erie Otters on New Years Eve.
- The Storm have lost five of their last six games.
- The first of a home-and-home series, the Storm will travel to Owen Sound on Saturday to play the second of back-to-back games against the Attack.
