Thursday Highlights: IceDogs return to winning ways

 

NIAGARA 4 – SAGINAW 1
Goaltender Stephen Dhillon helped the Niagara IceDogs break out of a lengthy slide, turning aside 43 shots to help them defeat the visiting Saginaw Spirit 4-1. The IceDogs end a 10-game drought and return to the win column behind two goals and an assist from Edmonton Oilers prospect Kirill Maksimov (29, 30). Sam Miletic (30) and Ben Jones (19) also scored for the Dogs while defenceman Liam Ham had two helpers. The Spirit outshot the IceDogs 44-40 as rookie Jake Goldowski (10) scored the lone goal for the visitors while netminder Evan Cormier made 36 saves. Niagara sits at 27-21-6-3, tied for fourth place in the Eastern Conference with North Bay. Saginaw has won just three of the last 10 games but has managed to collect at least a point in seven of those contests. They fall to 27-22-8-0, three points back of fifth place Owen Sound in the Western Conference.
GAME CENTRE

 

MISSISSAUGA 7 – BARRIE 4
A back-and-forth Central Division clash saw Mathieu Foget (19) record a goal and three helpers while Michael Little (10, 11) scored twice and added an assist as the Mississauga Steelheads took a 7-4 win in Barrie. The Trout led 5-1 midway through the second period before the Colts scored three times to draw within a goal. Cole Carter (16) added insurance with 4:17 left in the third period, putting things out of reach as the Steelheads stayed five points ahead of the Peterborough Petes for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Ryan McLeod (19), Nicholas Canade (6) and Owen Tippett (27) also scored for Mississauga while Emanuel Vella made 37 saves for the win. Barrie outshot Mississauga 41-26 while both teams went 2-for-2 on the power play. Dmitry Sokolov (40), Joey Keane (10), Jason Willms (24) and Andrei Svechnikov (31) all had goals for the Colts as they fell to 34-21-2-1 atop the division. Aaron Luchuk (16 games) and Andrei Svechnikov (13 games) both extended their respective point streaks.
GAME CENTRE

 

PETERBOROUGH 3 – KINGSTON 1
Dylan Wells stood tall with a 31-save performance to backstop the Peterborough Petes to a much needed 3-1 win at home to the Kingston Frontenacs. Bobby Dow (9), Pavel Gogolev (24) and Zach Gallant (16) all found the back of the net as the Petes finished their season series with the Frontenacs with the two teams earning four wins apiece. The Petes kept pace with the Mississauga Steelheads who were winners on Thursday, remaining within five points of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Kingston had a three-game winning streak snapped as Bryan Laureigh (3) provided their lone goal while netminder Brendan Bonello made 28 saves. The 32-18-5-3 Frontenacs are four points back of first place Hamilton in the Eastern Conference.
GAME CENTRE

 

WINDSOR 2 – OTTAWA 1
The Windsor Spitfires got their weekend started with a win as Vancouver Canucks prospect Michael DiPietro made 26 saves in a 2-1 win over the visiting Ottawa 67’s. The Spitfires pull to within one point of seventh place as Daniel D’Amico (10) and Luke Kutkevicius (8) scored one minute apart midway through the third period to break a scoreless tie. Ottawa’s Sasha Chmelevski (30) lit the lamp less than two minutes later to cut the lead in half but the 67’s would be beaten by the buzzer in their comeback attempt. Ottawa suffers a third straight loss, falling to 25-24-5-3, one point back of sixth place Oshawa in the Eastern Conference.
GAME CENTRE