Friday Highlights: 67’s prevail in interleague clash

 

OTTAWA 5 – GATINEAU 0
Sam Bitten (4, 5) scored twice and Olivier Tremblay made 20 saves for his second shutout of the season as the Ottawa 67’s blanked the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques 5-0 on the road. The Ottawa win settles the score with Gatineau after the Olympiques won an outdoor clash at TD Place Stadium back on Dec. 17th. Austen Keating (15), Mitchell Hoelscher (3) and Kody Clark (15) also found the back of the net as the 67’s outshot Gatineau 29-20. Keating finished the night with a goal and two helpers while defenceman Nikita Okhotyuk had two assists. Ottawa improves to 17-19-2-2, one point ahead of fifth place Peterborough in the East Division. The Olympiques suffer their third straight loss and are 23-14-2-2, good for fourth place in the QMJHL’s West Division.
GAME CENTRE (QMJHL)

 

NIAGARA 6 – BARRIE 3
The Niagara IceDogs scored an important 6-3 win over the Barrie Colts, pulling into a first place tie with Barrie atop the Central Division. The home ice win was headlined by a four-point night from defenceman Elijah Roberts (3, 4, 5) including the rearguard’s first career OHL hat-trick. Newcomer Sam Miletic (18, 19) scored twice and added an assist while goaltender Stephen Dhillon turned in a 46-save performance as the IceDogs won their seventh in the past 10 games. Trailing 2-1 after one period, Niagara scored four times in the second to take control of the game as Bradey Johnson (8) also found the back of the net and Akil Thomas recorded a pair of assists. The Colts outshot Niagara 49-28 in the loss, getting goals from Zach Magwood (19), Dmitry Sokolov (22) and TJ Fergus (6). Sokolov’s goal was the 100th of his OHL career. Barrie holds a 24-14-2-1 record while Niagara sits at 23-12-3-2 with a game in hand. The two clubs meet three more times during the regular season.
GAME CENTRE

 

SAULT STE. MARIE 5 – OWEN SOUND 2
The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds have started another winning streak, claiming their fourth straight victory in a 5-2 triumph over the visiting Owen Sound Attack. The Hounds climbed out to a 4-0 lead as Boris Katchouk (29, 30), Hayden Verbeek (15) and Rasmus Sandin (5) all scored. Owen Sound’s Aidan Dudas (19) and Markus Phillips (5) scored third period power play goals to cut the lead to two before Morgan Frost (25) found the back of the net, giving him a goal and two assists as he extended his point streak to 19 games. Barrett Hayton and Taylor Raddysh both picked up a pair of assists while Matthew Villalta made 20 saves. The Hounds outshot the Attack 27-22, going 2-for-4 on the power play. Owen Sound drops their eighth decision in the last 10 games, falling to 16-17-2-5. The Greyhounds climb to 36-3-2-1, remaining unbeaten in regulation over a span of 28 consecutive games. Attack forward Brett McKenzie became the OHL’s first player to reach the 300-game played mark this season.
GAME CENTRE

 

GUELPH 4 – KINGSTON 2
The Guelph Storm rebounded from a Thursday night loss as Philadelphia Flyers prospect Isaac Ratcliffe (20, 21) scored twice in a 4-2 road win over the Kingston Frontenacs. Down 2-1, Ratcliffe scored a pair of goals less than five minutes apart to put the Storm in the lead before Dmitri Samorukov (7) hit the open net. Cedric Ralph (16) also scored for Guelph while Garrett McFadden finished the night with three assists. Storm netminder Anthony Popovich made 35 saves, surrendering Frontenacs goals off the sticks of Jason Robertson (25) and Jakob Brahaney (4). Kingston netminder Brendan Bonello took the loss with 31 saves to his credit. The free-flowing game featured just two minor penalties. The Storm pull to within three points of second place London in the Midwest Division while Kingston remains 10 points back of first place Hamilton in the East.
GAME CENTRE

 

HAMILTON 5 – LONDON 1
Arthur Kaliyev (17) and Nicholas Caamano (20) both had a goal and an assist while Robert Thomas recorded two helpers in his Hamilton Bulldogs debut as they defeated the London Knights 5-1 on the road. Thomas’ return to Budweiser Gardens featured a pre-game standing ovation as he and Team Canada teammate Alex Formenton were recognized for their gold medal efforts. Matthew Strome (25) scored for the 10th time in as many games while Ryan Moore (13) and Justin Lemcke (6) also lit the lamp as the Bulldogs outshot the Knights 41-30 while holding them to 1-for-8 on the power play. Detroit Red Wings prospect Kaden Fulcher made 29 saves, surrendering London’s lone goal off the stick of Nathan Dunkley (15). Hamilton has now won eight of 10, improving to 26-9-3-3 while London drops a third straight decision, falling to 22-17-2-1.
GAME CENTRE

 

OSHAWA 5 – FLINT 3
The Flint Firebirds peppered Kyle Keyser with 46 shots but the Oshawa Generals netminder stopped 33 of them in a 5-3 home ice win as Hayden McCool (9) and Kenny Huether (18) both had a goal and an assist. Generals blueliner William Ennis (1) scored his first career OHL goal while Eric Henderson (6) and Renars Krastenbergs (12) also got in on the offence. The Generals climbed out to a 3-0 lead before Flint clawed back on goals from Hunter Holmes (7), Connor Roberts (8) and Maurizio Colella (14) while Ty Dellandrea had two assists. McCool scored the winner with 6:04 remaining in the third period. The Generals have won seven of the last 10, improving to 20-18-3-0. Flint falls to 12-24-3-0, 12 points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
GAME CENTRE

 

SARNIA 6 – WINDSOR 1
Jordan Kyrou (20, 21), Sean Josling (15, 16) and Anthony Salinitri (17, 18) all scored twice as the Sarnia Sting beat the Windsor Spitfires 6-1 on Steven Stamkos jersey retirement night in Sarnia. The win came before a big crowd of 4,615 as the Sting got a pair of assists from newcomers Cam Dineen and Michael Pezzetta while goaltender Justin Fazio made 24 saves. The Sting outshot the Spitfires 38-25, earning their fourth straight win to improve to 29-12-2-0. Luke Boka (7) scored Windsor’s lone goal 6:52 into the first period and that’s all the offence they’d muster as goaltender Lucas Patton made 32 saves in defeat. Windsor falls 13 points behind Sarnia in the West Division, now sitting at 22-15-2-1.
GAME CENTRE

 

MISSISSAUGA 6 – SUDBURY 3
The Sudbury Wolves climbed out to a 2-0 lead in the opening half of the first period but the Mississauga Steelheads came roaring back to take a 6-3 road win behind two goals and two assists from Cole Carter (10, 11) in his debut. New Jersey Devils prospect Michael McLeod (9, 10) also scored twice and added an assist as the Trout outshot Sudbury 40-31. Reagan O’Grady (6) scored in his return to Sudbury while recent acquisition Mathieu Foget (13) also chipped in with a goal. Albert Michnac recorded three assists in the win as the Steelheads won their fourth straight, improving to 18-22-0-1. Sudbury’s fifth straight loss featured a pair of goals from Drake Pilon (6, 7) while new face Alexey Lipanov (12) also tallied. Sudbury currently sits 10 points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
GAME CENTRE