IceDogs blank Storm

Three straight first period markers would be too much for the Guelph Storm to overcome as the Niagara IceDogs earn a 6-0 victory on Saturday night. 

Steph Coratti, GuelphStorm.com —

It wasn’t the best of games for the Guelph Storm. 

The Niagara IceDogs opened the scoring just over four minutes into the contest and never looked back, going on to score six unanswered goals in a 6-0 win over the Storm on Saturday night.

Michael Giugovaz was by far Guelph’s best player, peppered with a total of 57 shots on the night. The overage netminder rose to the occasion with several impeccable saves, coming up with 51 total stops in the loss. 

At the other end of the ice, the Storm struggled to get much of anything going offensively as Alex Nedeljkovic turned aside 18 shots for his first shutout of the season.

Stealing the show up front was the IceDogs’ Stephen Harper, recording two goals and three assists for five points on the night. Josh Ho-Sang also put forth a strong display, tallying one goal and two assists.

Special teams set the tone early into the first frame with Niagara earning the game’s first penalty just 33 seconds into the contest. Unable to generate much of anything offensively on the man-advantage, the Storm went on to give up three straight power plays of their own – two of which the IceDogs were able to take advantage of.

Starting with Marc Stevens serving a roughing call at the 3:36 mark, the IceDogs capitalized on their first power play of the game as Ho-Sang stepped into the slot to find Vince Dunn for his 12th of the season just over a minute into the minor.

In the latter half of the frame, James McEwan received a checking-to-the-head call with just under five minutes remaining in the period. On the power play, Niagara’s Harper fired a shot from the point only to have Giugovaz come up with the big initial save. On the doorstep, though, was Anthoy DiFruscia who made no mistake on the rebound, putting his 20^th of the season past the overage netminder. 

With 52 seconds remaining in the first, the IceDogs struck again – this time with Harper earning his own tally. Playing off of the one-time option on the rush, Harper opted to shoot instead, putting a wrister through Giugovaz’s five-hole to extend the home squad’s lead to three.

Wasting no time picking things up where they left off, the IceDogs added to their lead with a quick goal to begin the middle frame. Harper, scoring his second goal and registering his third point of the game just 1:26 into the period, was on the doorstep to follow up with a second-chance effort on the rebound after Giugovaz came up with the solid first stop.

From there, the IceDogs continued to press, going on to register a total of 33 shots on the Storm netminder through 40 minutes of play in contrast to that of Guelph’s 10.

Giugovaz, more than noticeably earning the label as the Storm’s best player, made several big stops through the second, with back-to-back robberies coming against Pavel Jenys and Harper nearing the halfway point as the focus point of the goaltender’s work.

Moving into the final frame, Giugovaz remained a force between the pipes, coming up with first-and-second saves but the IceDogs managed to build their lead with two more tallies. 

With Levi Tetrault (cross checking) in the box and Nick Deakin-Poot following 30 seconds later (high sticking), Niagara capitalized on the five-on-three advantage for their third power play marker of the game 3:51 into the third. Harper found Brendan Perlini who rocketed home his 23^rd of the campaign.

Solidifying the 6-0 victory, Ho-Sang grabbed a tally of his own as Harper fed the New York Islanders prospect with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game.

The Storm are back in action on Sunday night visiting the Sarnia Sting.

GAME NOTES 

• Saturday’s match-up was the second and final meeting between the Storm and the IceDogs this season. 

• Niagara earned victories in both contests.

• The Storm faced off against their ex-teammate Tyler Boston for the first time on Saturday night.

• Facing 57 shots on the night, goaltender Michael Giugovaz saw more than 40 shots for the eighth time since joining the team, and for the fourth time over the last five games played. 

• The Storm return to action on Sunday night, visiting the Sarnia Sting for the third and final game of the three-in-three stretch this weekend. 

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Guelph Storm 0 at Niagara IceDogs 6 – Status: Final
Saturday, February 27, 2016 – Meridian Centre

Guelph 0 0 0 – 0
Niagara 3 1 2 – 6

1st Period-1, Niagara, Dunn 12 (Ho-Sang, DiFruscia), 4:40 (PP). 2, Niagara, DiFruscia 20 (Harper, Mantha), 15:51 (PP). 3, Niagara, Harper 22   19:08.

Penalties-Perlini Niag (slashing), 0:33; Stevens Gue (roughing), 3:36; Stevens Gue (hooking), 12:00; McEwan Gue (check to the head), 15:16; Philips Gue (misc-usc), 19:08.

2nd Period-4, Niagara, Harper 23 (Siebenaler, Ho-Sang), 1:26.

Penalties-Stevens Gue (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 1:59; Stevens Gue (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 6:28; Haydon Niag (roughing), 6:28; Perlini Niag (holding), 9:43; Lochead Niag (roughing), 12:50; West Gue (hooking), 15:31.

3rd Period-5, Niagara, Perlini 23 (Harper, Dunn), 3:51 (PP). 6, Niagara, Ho-Sang 17 (Harper, Haydon), 9:56.

Penalties-Tetrault Gue (cross checking), 2:17; Deakin-Poot Gue (high sticking), 2:48.

Shots on Goal–Guelph 4-6-8-18. Niagara 18-16-23-57.
Power Play Opportunities–Guelph 0 / 3; Niagara 3 / 7.
Goalies–Guelph, Giugovaz 14-15-5-2 (57 shots-51 saves). Niagara, Nedeljkovic 19-16-1-2 (18 shots-18 saves).

A-4,957
Referees-Joe Celestin (4), Ryan Park (10).
Linesmen-Alex Ross (89), Ryan Holmstead (91).