Friday Highlights: Giroux and Gogolev join 40-goal club in victorious fashion

 

GUELPH 5, ERIE 3
Eric Uba (26) scored the game winner with 2:40 remaining, helping the Guelph Storm overcome a 4-2 deficit and stretch their point streak to nine games in a 5-3 win over visiting Erie. Pavel Gogolev (40, 41) scored a pair of goals as Guelph climbed into a fifth place tie with Windsor in the Western Conference. Matthew Papais (10) and Erie’s Elias Cohen (6) traded early goals before Gogolev scored to reclaim the Guelph lead. The Otters jumped ahead thanks to a shorthanded marker from Maxim Golod (23) and a power play goal from Jamie Drysdale (9) but Guelph’s Cedric Ralph (17) then evened things up. Uba found the back of the net with 2:40 to go in the third to make it 4-3 and Gogolev followed it up with an empty netter in the game’s remaining seconds. The shots ended 37-24 in favour of the Storm, who see their record jump up to 31-19-3-5, good for a fifth place tie with Windsor in the Western Conference. Erie remains eighth in the conference at 24-23-4-7.
GAME CENTRE

 

SAGINAW 5, KINGSTON 2
Captain Damien Giroux earned goals 40 and 41 in the Saginaw Spirit’s 5-2 defeat of the visiting Kingston Frontenacs for a third straight win and five-game point streak. Dalton Duhart (13), New York Islanders prospect Bode Wilde (2), and Giroux gave the Spirit a 3-0 start before Kingston’s Jordan Frasca (15) cut into their lead. Two more from Giroux and NHL Draft prospect Cole Perfetti (36) widened the Spirit lead and a final goal from Frontenacs rookie Ethan Ritchie (2) would round out the night. Tristan Lennox was good for 18 of 20 shots in net for Saginaw and Christian Propp solved 25 of the 30 shots he faced between the Kingston pipes, as the Fronts remain ninth in the Eastern Conference at 18-35-2-2. The Spirit sit fourth in the Western Conference and climb to 27-16-3-2. Giroux becomes the first Spirit player to score 40 goals in a season since Dylan Sadowy last did so in 2014-15.
GAME CENTRE

 

FLINT 6, HAMILTON 4
Jake Durham (21, 22) and rookie Brennan Othmann (16, 17) both put up a pair of goals to help their Flint Firebirds skate past the visiting Hamilton Bulldogs 6-4. Los Angeles Kings prospect Arthur Kaliyev (43) and Michigan product Ryan Humphrey (3) got the ‘Dogs off to a 2-0 start, but the ‘Birds came on with four straight from Evgeniy Oksentyuk (32), Durham, and Othmann. Kade Landry (4) got one back for Hamilton and St. Louis Blues pick Tyler Tucker (17) responded with another for Flint before Durham and Jan Mysak (14) traded goals in the third period to round out the scoring. Flint’s Anthony Popovich saved 42 of the 46 shots he faced, while Zachary Roy and Marco Costantini faced a combined 40 shots between the Hamilton pipes. The Firebirds improve to 39-18-1-1 and first in the West Division while the Bulldogs stick around at sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 24-27-7-1 tally. The Firebirds have now won 17 of their last 18 games.
GAME CENTRE

 

OTTAWA 4, OSHAWA 1
Cedrick Andree stopped 37 of 38 shots to record his second straight 30-win season and Joseph Garreffa put up three assists as the Ottawa 67’s defeated visiting Oshawa 4-1 to lock up their second consecutive East Division title. Marco Rossi opened the scoring with his 35th on the year and Cameron Tolnai (6) struck next for a 2-0 advantage. Brett Neumann got the Gens on the scoreboard with his 43rd goal of the season before the Barber Poles added two on the empty net from New Jersey Devils pick Mitchell Hoelscher (32) and Austen Keating (30). Jordan Kooy totaled 30 saves on the 32 shots he faced in net for Oshawa. The 67’s climb to 45-11-0-1 atop the Eastern Conference while the Gens drop to 31-19-5-4 for third place.
GAME CENTRE

 

SUDBURY 4, NIAGARA 2
Macauley Carson (21) scored the go-ahead goal as he became just the second player in Sudbury Wolves history to suit up in 300 career contests, helping them defeat the visiting Niagara IceDogs 4-2. Carolina Hurricanes pick Blake Murray (29) earned a goal and an assist and Mitchell Weeks stopped 27 of 29 to earn first star honours. Murray struck first, ahead of back-to-back goals from leading IceDogs scorer Ivan Lodnia (25, 26), a draft pick of the Minnesota Wild. Overager David Levin (26) scored the tying goal before captain Carson pushed the Wolves ahead in the third period’s opening minutes. Rookie Adam Samuelsson (2) added insurance on the empty net to seal his team’s third consecutive win. NHL Draft prospect Quinton Byfield put up a pair of assists in his first game back in the lineup since Feb. 7th. Niagara’s Andrew MacLean joined Weeks in making 27 saves. Sudbury improves to 32-26-1-0 on the year atop the Central Division while the IceDogs continue to sit eighth in the Eastern Conference with an 18-35-5-1 tally.
GAME CENTRE

 

KITCHENER 7, SARNIA 3
Four primary assists from Florida Panthers prospect Serron Noel helped fuel the Kitchener Rangers in their 7-3 triumph over the visiting Sarnia Sting. Kitchener’s Joseph Serpa (4) and Sarnia overager Ryan McGregor (24) kicked things off early in the first, and Kitchener overager Jonathan Yantsis (36) struck next with his first of two on the night. Sam Bitten (11) and Jacob Perreault (36) pushed the Sting out in front until Francesco Pinelli (18) scored 45 seconds later for the first of five unanswered Rangers goals. Liam Hawel (19), Serpa (5) and Dallas Stars prospect Riley Damiani (27) all scored next, and Yantsis (37) notched one more in the final frame to cap off his team’s seven-goal showing. Los Angeles Kings pick Jacob Ingham stopped 28 of 31 shots for his 30th win of the season as the Rangers improve to 37-14-5-2 on the year at third in the Western Conference. The Sting fall to 20-33-5-1 and remain in the West Division’s fifth place slot. Rookie netminder Benjamin Gaudreau stopped 25 of the 27 shots he saw in relief.
GAME CENTRE

 

LONDON 4, SOO 2
Brett Brochu saved 26 of 28 shots faced in net for the Conference-leading London Knights as they skated to a 4-2 win over the Soo Greyhounds for their 40th win of the season. Ottawa Senators prospect Jonathan Gruden (28) gave the Knights a 1-0 lead that was spoiled soon after by Kalvyn Watson’s third OHL goal. London responded with three in a row from Columbus Blue Jackets pick Liam Foudy (25), overager Jason Willms (21) and Chicago Blackhawks prospect Alec Regula (26), who scored his team’s fourth goal of the game shorthanded on the empty net. With five seconds remaining, the Greyhounds’ Tye Kartye (23) would put one more past Brochu. Sault Ste. Marie’s Nick Malik stopped 35 of 38 attempts as his team remains ninth in the Western Conference at 26-30-3-1. The Knights’ record climbs to 40-15-1-1.
GAME CENTRE