Storm defeat Attack in back and forth battle

The Guelph Storm defeated the Owen Sound Attack 4-3 in the first of back-to-back games between the Midwest Division rivals on Friday night at the Sleeman Centre.

Jett Luchanko scored the game-winning goal with 1:29 remaining in the third period when his shot went through the pads of Owen Sound goaltender Nick Chenard in front of 4,310 fans. It was the rookies third goal of the season and his first OHL game-winner.

With the victory, Guelph improves to 10-15-2-1 while Owen Sound drops to 16-9-1-1. The Storm snapped a two-game losing streak while the Attack suffered their second straight loss. Guelph is 3-1-0-0 in games against Owen Sound this season.

Max Namestnikov got the Storm on the board first with a power play goal scored 9:35 into the first period when he wired a one-timer on a feed from Matthew Poitras. The forward has scored 13 points in nine games since being acquired by Guelph in November.

The Attack responded with a power play goal of their own later in the period when Nolan Seed fired a shot from the point that was deflected by Matthew Papais past Guelph goaltender Brayden Gillespie. The goal was the tenth of the season for Papais.

It didn’t take long for the Storm to strike back, Michael Buchinger scored 1:30 later on a wrist shot from just inside the blue line. The goal was his fifth of the season and his second in as many games.

The teams continued to trade blows in the early half of the second period, Kaleb Lawrence evened the game up at two when he cashed in on a rebound opportunity in front of the Storm net 4:53 into the middle frame. Just over two minutes later Chase Coughlan scored his first goal of the 2022-23 campaign to give Guelph another lead. However, the lead was short-lived, Owen Sound right winger Julian Fatino scored his third goal of the year to even in up at three 33 seconds later.

Luchanko picked up two points in his first multi-point game of his young OHL career, he now has four points in four games against the Attack in 2022-23.

“We played a really good game, we had the puck in their zone a lot and we got it done so that’s what matters.” said the Storm’s first round pick in the 2021 OHL Priority section, post-game.

Next Up

The Storm will take on the Attack again on Saturday night at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre in Owen Sound with puck drop at 7:30pm. They’ll return to the Sleeman Centre to close out the weekend with a Sunday matinee showdown against the Ottawa 67’s when the puck drops at 2:00pm. Tickets for next home game can be found here.

Game Notes

Owen Sound Attack 3 at Guelph Storm 4 – Status: Final
Friday, December 9, 2022 – Sleeman Centre

Owen Sound 1 2 0 – 3
Guelph 2 1 1 – 4

1st Period-1, Guelph, Namestnikov 11 (Poitras, Buchinger), 8:35 (PP). 2, Owen Sound, Papais 10 (Seed, Petrovski), 14:42 (PP). 3, Guelph, Buchinger 5 (McGuire, Zhugin), 16:12. Penalties-Papais Os (hooking), 7:35; Allen Gue (hooking), 14:34; Enright Gue (interference), 17:35; Barlow Os (tripping), 19:49.

2nd Period-4, Owen Sound, Lawrence 7 (Seed, Petrovsky), 4:53. 5, Guelph, Coughlan 1 (Bowman, Luchanko), 6:56. 6, Owen Sound, Fantino 3 (Papais, Sedley), 7:28. Penalties-Coughlan Gue (blindsiding), 3:15; Murray Gue (cross checking), 7:43; Barlow Os (roughing), 19:58; Petrovski Os (roughing), 19:58; Uens Os (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 19:58; Allen Gue (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 19:58; Buchinger Gue (roughing), 19:58.

3rd Period-7, Guelph, Luchanko 3 (Poitras), 18:31. Penalties-Lawrence Os (roughing), 14:06; Enright Gue (roughing), 14:06.

Shots on Goal-Owen Sound 5-16-11-32. Guelph 13-10-8-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Owen Sound 1 / 4; Guelph 1 / 3.
Goalies-Owen Sound, Chenard 8-5-0-1 (31 shots-27 saves). Guelph, Gillespie 3-0-0-1 (32 shots-29 saves).
Timeouts — Timeout 00:30 Owen Sound@19:43
A-4,310
Referees-Ryan Jenken (36), Brendan Schreider (11).
Linesmen-Kyle Rodgers (59), Adam Burnett (94).