Saturday Highlights: Brilliant Brodeur
Saturday February 27, 2016
Jeremy Brodeur turned aside 36 shots to equal Ken Appleby’s 2014-15 mark of six shutouts in a 5-0 blanking of the visiting Kitchener Rangers on Saturday.
Brodeur’s first star performance helped the Generals gain two big points on the Hamilton Bulldogs in their pursuit to lock down the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Eric Henderson, Anthony Cirelli, Kenny Huether and Mitchell Vande Sompel all had a goal and an assist while rookie rearguard Riley Stillman earned second star recognition with two assists.
The Generals victory came in one of nine games around the league on Saturday.
OSHAWA 5 KITCHENER 0 – Jeremy Brodeur equalled Ken Appleby’s 2014-15 mark with 36 saves for his sixth shutout of the season as the Oshawa Generals blanked visiting Kitchener 5-0. With a Hamilton loss on Sunday, the Generals gained two big points in their pursuit of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Eric Henderson, Anthony Cirelli, Kenny Huether and Mitchell Vande Sompel all had a goal and an assist while rookie rearguard Riley Stillman earned second star honours with two assists. The loss marked the first time that Kitchener has been shutout this season as they fall three points behind second place London in the Midwest Division. The Generals hold a one point lead on Hamilton for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
GAME SUMMARY • HIGHLIGHTS
SARNIA 4 OWEN SOUND 1 – Charlie Graham made 35 saves and Philadelphia Flyers prospect Travis Konecny recorded a goal and an assist to the lead the Sarnia Sting to a 4-1 win in Owen Sound. The Sting keep pace with Windsor as Anthony Salinitri and blueliners Jakob Chychrun and Kevin Spinozzi also scored to give them their third straight win. Owen Sound veteran Bryson Cianfrone provided Owen Sound’s lone goal in the loss. Sarnia leads Windsor by one point atop the West Division.
GAME SUMMARY • HIGHLIGHTS
WINDSOR 6 FLINT 4 – Arizona Coyotes prospect Christian Fischer netted his second hat-trick of the season as the Windsor Spitfires defeated the Flint Firebirds 6-4 to stay within a point of first place in the West Division. Fishcher’s four points were joined by two goals from Bradley Latour while Brendan Lemieux, Logan Brown and Mikhail Sergachev all had a pair of helpers. The Spits went 4-for-7 on the man advantage enroute to their third straight win. Former Spitfire Ryan Moore was a bright spot for Flint with two goals and an assist while Will Bitten and Zach Grzelewski also found the back of the net. With the win, the Spitfires wrap up their season series with Flint going 5-0-1-0 against the Firebirds this season.
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SUDBURY 6 PETERBOROUGH 3 – Russian winger Dmitry Sokolov had three goals and an assist to record his second hat-trick of the season as the Sudbury Wolves doubled up the Peterborough Petes 6-3. Michael Pezzetta, Mikkel Aagaard and Patrick Murphy also had goals while Alan Lyszczarczyk had three assists and Troy Timpano made 47 saves in goal. The Wolves went 3-for-3 on the powerplay and have now scored at least four goals in three of their last four games. Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Matt Spencer had a goal and an assist in the loss for Peterborough while Steven Lorentz chipped in with two assist. With the Peterborough loss, the Kingston Frontenacs have secured their first East Division title since 1995.
GAME SUMMARY • HIGHLIGHTS
LONDON 5 OTTAWA 1 – Mitchell Marner became the 12th player in London Knights history to record back-to-back 100-point seasons as his three assists helped the Knights take a 5-1 win in Ottawa. Draft eligible winger Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and four assists while Arizona Coyotes prospect Christian Dvorak had two goals and an assist and Aaron Berisha scored twice as the Knights bounced back from a Friday night loss in Kingston. The win keeps London within four points of first place Erie in the Midwest Division. Nathan Todd provided Ottawa’s lone goal in the loss as they’ve dropped five of their last six decisions.
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ERIE 4 SAGINAW 2 – Nick Betz, Patrick Fellows and Jordan Sambrook all had a goal and an assist as the Erie Otters defeated visiting Saginaw 4-2 for their third straight win. Jake Lawr made 24 saves to record his 10th win of the season as the Otters hold a four point lead atop the Midwest Division. Blake Clarke and Mitchell Stephens had goals for Saginaw as the Spirit suffered their eighth loss in the last 10 games.
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BARRIE 8 MISSISSAUGA 0 – The Barrie Colts erupted for eight goals, handing the Mississauga Steelheads their second consecutive lopsided defeat as Anaheim Ducks prospect Julius Nattinen led the way with a goal and three assists. Barrie’s big guns got in on the action as Kevin Labanc (1-2–3), Dylan Sadowy (2-1–3), Andrew Mangiapane (1-1–2) and Rasmus Andersson (0-3–3) all got in on the scoring frenzy. Barrie’s powerplay went 3-for-5 as their top-ranked offence in the Eastern Conference was at its best in this one. Goaltender David Ovsjannikov made 27 saves for his first OHL shutout.
GAME SUMMARY • HIGHLIGHTS
NORTH BAY 6 HAMILTON 1 – The North Bay Battalion avenged Wednesday’s home ice loss to Hamilton with a 6-1 response over the Bulldogs on Saturday, improving to 3-0-1-0 against them on the season. Rookie forward Max Kislinger scored twice for his 9th and 10th goals of the season while Brett McKenzie registered three assists and goaltender Jake Smith made 26 saves. Rookie defenceman Brady Lyle scored his first career OHL goal as the Troops remain within three points of first place Barrie in the Central Division. Matthew Strome scored Hamilton’s only goal on the night as the Dogs now trail eighth placed Oshawa by one point in the Eastern Conference.
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NIAGARA 6 GUELPH 0 – Stephen Harper’s two goals and three assists led the Niagara IceDogs over the Guelph Storm in a big 6-0 victory. Josh Ho-Sang (1-2–3), Anthony DiFruscia (1-1–2) and Vince Dunn (1-1–2) also had multi-point efforts while Alex Nedeljkovic made 18 saves for his 10th career shutout. The IceDogs outshot Guelph 57-18 as Storm veteran Michael Giugovaz made 51 saves in goal. Niagara is knotted with the Mississauga Steelheads at 64 points for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
GAME SUMMARY • HIGHLIGHTS