Friday Highlights: Generals take Game 1

Friday May 8, 2015

The Oshawa Generals took another strong step in the right direction on Friday night, suppressing the dangerous attack of the Erie Otters in a 4-1 win as Vancouver Canucks prospect Cole Cassels tallied a pair of assists and kept his man in check to earn first star honours. Highlights / Post-Game Comments

Cassels, who saw frequent shifts against Otters star Connor McDavid, did an effective job in the faceoff circle and finished the night with a plus-2 rating as the Generals took a 1-0 series lead in front of 6,068 energized fans at the General Motors Centre.

“We came out and played a solid all-around game,” said Generals coach D.J. Smith following the win. “We did the things we needed to do to be successful – things like playing above the puck, blocking shots, and taking good care of the puck. It’s the way we’re going to have to play if we want to win this series.”

Big forward Michael McCarron opened the scoring for Oshawa 10:35 into the first frame, taking advantage of the first powerplay opportunity of the night as he jammed a rebound past Erie netminder Devin Williams off a Stephen Desrocher point blast.

The Generals defence pitched in offensively again just 20 seconds into the second frame as draft eligible blueliner Mitchell Vande Sompel snapped a wrister over the shoulder of a screened Williams from the top of the circle with assists going to Cassels and Tobias Lindberg.

The Otters had trouble generating offence in the second as Oshawa took away time and space through the neutral zone, stifling Erie’s attacking speed and momentum.

The captain put the team on his back in the dying moments of the period though. Connor McDavid wound up behind the Erie goal on the powerplay and ensued to navigate his way through three red sweaters at high speed before finding an oncoming Remi Elie crashing the net for his third of the postseason.

The late second period goal didn’t yield any early third period momentum though as the Generals re-established their two goal cushion in the opening minute.

Matt Mistele won a valuable board battle inside the Erie blueline to keep the play alive as the puck eventually found its way to the slot where Michael Dal Colle followed up on a broken play to give the Generals a 3-1 edge 46 seconds in.

Hunter Smith would wrap up the scoring on a goalmouth scramble with 2:21 remaining with assists going to Cassels and Bradley Latour as the Generals put the final nail in a 4-1 victory.

“They were ready to play tonight, and I don’t know, maybe we weren’t,” said Otters captain Connor McDavid post-game. “We come off that big series victory over the Soo and maybe this game is a bit of a let down for us. We’ve lost the first game in two of our three series so far, so we’ve been here before. We’ll need to be much better tomorrow.”

Michael Dal Colle’s goal 46 seconds into the third period seemed to let the wind out of the Otters’ sails following their late second period marker.

“The first two minutes and the last two minutes of any period are the key moments for any momentum swings,” McDavid continued. “To give one up early in the third the way we did is frustrating, and we didn’t battle back from it tonight.”

Oshawa goaltender Ken Appleby only faced 19 shots, but was sharp when called upon to earn his 13th victory of the postseason.

Generals blueliner Stephen Desrocher continued his strong play, registering two assists to earn second star recognition. Desrocher now has points in four of his last five contests.

The Generals took the shooting column 31-19 and take a 1-0 series lead against an Otters club that dropped their first game in the Western Conference Final before coming back to eliminate Sault Ste. Marie in six games.

“We’re well aware that Sault Ste. Marie beat them in Game 1 and then Erie won Game 2 and never looked back,” Generals coach Smith added. “We’re going to do everything possible to mimic tonight’s effort in Game 2 tomorrow. I’ve said it before, it’s the first to four, not the first to one, two or three and this team isn’t going to be easy to put away.”

Game 2 of the Rogers OHL Championship Series will be Saturday night in Oshawa at 7:05pm. The game can be seen on Rogers TV Durham, Rogers TV Toronto and Rogers Sports+ Digital Channel 368/369.

Photos from the 2015 Rogers OHL Championship Series

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