Six different 67′s scored in this one, including Tyler Toffoli and Shane Prince, who both continued to set the pace for the team.

Just like Saturday against Peterborough, Ottawa had a  3-0 fairly early.  In fact, it was just past the midway point of the first period when Shane Prince added to tallies from Nicklas Foglia and Cody Ceci.  Then just like Saturday, Ottawa allowed Erie to get on the board just as the second half of the game took off.  However, unlike Saturday, Ottawa allowed only one goal against and stopped any rallying effort with Dalton Smith’s late second period goal. Toffoli’s shorthanded marker and Ryan Van Stralen’s capper finished off the scoring as Ottawa killed off all 9 Otters power plays in a one-sided officiating effort.

MY THREE STARS

3. Michal Cajkovsky – 2A, +3 and dominant physical effort

2.Tyler Toffoli – 1G (SH), 1A with new linemates

1. Cody Ceci – 1G (the game winner), +5 rating in the win

WHAT I SAW

Coach Byrne seemed to be sending a message to top centre Sean Monahan, who has struggled of late.  With “only” 8 points in his last 10 games, Monahan found himself centering the third (or arguably the 4th) line between Brett Gustavsen and Ryan Van Stralen, while ususal linemate Toffoli moved to play with Prince and Mike Cazzola.  Dalton Smith returned to the lineup, skating with Steven Janes and Tyler Graovac. It will be interesting to see the lines Monday in Kingston.  I think it was just a wake-up call for Monahan and he will be back with Toffoli before too long.

With veteran Jake Cardwell already nursing an injury, Ottawa lost overager Daniel Broussard very early as he was hit in front of the 67′s bench and didn’t return, with what looked like a knee injury.  Fortunately, the 67′s have been dressing 7 defensemen most of the season and Taylor Fielding was able to drop back when required.

Michal Cajkovsky was given a 10 minute misconduct for “inciting” following a 1st period scrap with Johnny McGuire.  The big Slovak dominated the scrap which appeared to be started by McGuire, so I don’t know where the misconduct arose from.  However, having already lost Broussard, missing Cajkovsky for 15 minutes tested the 67′s defensive depth, a test they passed with flying colours.

The 67′s are back in action on Monday afternoon, when they travel to Kingston for a family day matinee.  Kingston, despite being at the bottom of the East, always plays Ottawa tough.  It should be a good test for the 67′s, who will be  playing their third game in three days, unexpectedly.

Michael Nishi played extremely well in this game, gaining more confidence from the coach that whenever Petr Mrazek needs a rest, he will get a quality start from his backup.

An understandably sparse crowd gathered, and watched the 67′s jump out to carry the play early on, with Tyler Toffoli getting a pair of breakaways in the first three and a half minutes.  On the first one, 15 seconds after the opening puck drop, the sniper simply lost the puck off his stick when he tried to make his deke.  On the second one he was hauled down, with the goalie, two skaters and the puck ending up in the net.  The play was reviewed, but the goal didn’t count and Toffoli was awarded a penalty shot.  He was unsuccessful as Mike Morrison got his left pad on the shot.

Cody Ceci opened the scoring while on 4-on-4, completing a nice passing play that saw all 4 67′s skaters touch the puck in the sequence.  Four minutes later, Shane Prince doubled the lead and the 67′s escaped the first leading by a pair.  After Toffoli gave them a 3-0 advantage midway through the second, the Ottawa club seemed to think 3 was enough and decided to essentially shut down their game.  Two minutes after Toffoli’s goal, the Petes struck twice on a pair of unconventional goals.  First, Derek Mathers‘ point shot hit the post, but while Petr Mrazek was reaching back to find it, he inadvertently knocked the puck into his own net.  Thirty-eight seconds later, Ceci blasted a point shot that went wide and rang around the boards, and eluded Marc Zanetti on the other point.  Andrew Yogan, who had been challenging Ceci’s shot, flew the zone and ended up in a race with Mrazek for the loose puck as it rolled into the Ottawa zone.  Yogan won, and tipped it past the Ottawa netminder and put it into the empty net to bring the Petes within one.

Nick Ritchie evened the score under 2 minutes into the second, with a power play marker after a questionable tripping call on Taylor Fielding.  Peterborough continued to carry the play, and Yogan capped off his 4 point afternoon by blowing down the right wing and beating Mrazek short side with just over 5 minutes left.

Try as they might, Ottawa could not find the equalizer and they dropped their second straight game to their divisional rivals, in what could also be a first round playoff preview.

MY THREE STARS

3.  Shane Prince, OTT – Extended his scoring streak to 16 games, with a  goal and an assist.

2.  Stephen Nosad, PBO – One assists and +3 in this game

1.  Andrew Yogan, PBO – 2 G, 2A to single-handedly cue the comeback for the Petes.

WHAT I SAW

Ice conditions were a factor, no doubt, but both teams were playing on the same ice.  There were buckets all over the arena, and at least one noticeable leak erupted during the game in the stands.

Like I said earlier, Ottawa seemed to stop playing after they went up 3-0.  The first two Peterborough goals were unfortunate bounces, but Mrazek should have had the game-winner, that beat him short side from a weak angle, with Ceci taking the middle of the ice away.

Prince has become the dominant force for the 67′s.  Every time he is on the ice he is dangerous and the way he is playing right now, he might overtake Toffoli for the league scoring title, and maybe even the goal scoring lead as well.  He trails his teammate by 10 points and 8 goals with 13 games remaining.  Prince enters Sunday’s game tied for third in OHL scoring. His current 16 game point streak is one off the season high set by Tanner Pearson of Barrie in November/December.

Michael Nishi will likely get the start on Sunday, the middle of three games in three days, ahead of the Monday “Family Day” matinee in Kingston.  He will be facing an Erie Otters team that is coming off a 9-4 loss in Kingston on Friday, and has only won 8 games all season.

Puck drop Sunday is 2 pm.

Ottawa will look to continue their roll this weekend, starting on Friday night with another divisional rival and continuing on Sunday with a visit from the worst team in the OHL.
PETERBOROUGH PETES @ OTTAWA 67′s – Friday Feb 17th, 7:30 pm (ROGERS 22 & TEAM 1200)

The Petes roll into town for the last of 8 meetings this season, with Ottawa holding a 5-1-1 record over their rivals, with Peterborough sporting a 2-3-2 record (due to OT/SO games).  Ofter beating Ottawa on Feb 9th, Peterborough has lost 3 straight, including a 12-0 drubbing at the hands of the Owen Sound Attack, and a 5-3 loss to lowly Kingston at home Thursday night.

The fact that the Petes played last night should help the 67′s have more energy for this game.  The losing streak the Petes are on have put their playoff hopes in a precarious position, as they lead the Bulls by one point, but have played 3 more games.  If Ottawa wins tonight, it would severely hurt the Petes’ playoff hopes.

ERIE OTTERS @ OTTAWA  67′s – Sunday Feb. 19th, 2:00 PM (ROGERS 22 & TEAM 1200)

If the Ottawa 67′s hang on to win the Eastern Conference and get the #1 seed in the playoffs, they can send a big thank you to the last place Erie Otters.  In the last two weeks, the Otters, who have yet to reach the 10-win plateau, have defeated both the Brampton Battalion and the Niagara Ice Dogs, both at a time when they were battling Ottawa for first in the conference.  On Wednesday night, Otters goalie Devin Williams made 61 saves as the Ice Dogs threw everything they could at him, but Erie came away with a 2-1 win.

The Otters are a very young team, as they have dealt most of their veterans away earlier in the season in an attempt to stock the shelves for the future once it was apparent that this would not be their season.  One of those deals was to trade Mike Cazzola to Ottawa, a move that has sparked Shane Prince to be probably the best player in the OHL over the last month and a half.  Cazzola, who has helped Prince immeasurably, faces his former team for the first time

The win over Niagara proves that Ottawa cannot take the win for granted, despite the Otter’s struggles this season.  With the IceDogs loss, Ottawa holds a one point advantage in the race for first, with an even number of games played. This race will likely go down to the end of the season, as they play each other twice, March 9th in Niagara and then on the final weekend of the season on March 17th in St. Catherine’s.

There is only 7 home games left in the regular season, so get out and take in some top quality hockey in a great atmosphere for the entire family!

Shane Prince set the pace, scoring what turned out to be the winning goal 4 and a half minutes into the game.  He would add two more goals and an assist, extending his points streak to 14 games.  The OHL Player of the Month for January has been equally hot in February, and during his current streak he has 16 goals and 14 assists for 30 points.

Tyler Toffoli added a goal (his 41st) and an assist (also his 41st), extending his OHL scoring  lead to 5 points.  Prince moved up to a 4th place tie, trailing Toffoli by only 10 points.

On the flipside, rookie Sean Callaghan scored his first two OHL goals against the Bulls.  The young defenseman has been pressed into duty as a forward with the injuries to John McFarland and Dalton Smith, and he was rewarded today with extra ice time due to the score, and he made the most of it.  I was happy for him, since he has been the most improved player so far this season and has become a capable defender that will make his mark next season, when there is more room on the blue line for him.

Marc Zanetti, Sean Monahan and Brett Gustavsen scored the other 67′s goals in the rout.

In the third period, with the score already 8-0 the only thing in doubt was the shutout for Petr Mrazek.  He earned it, as the Bulls outshot the 67′s 35-33.  Mrazek didn’t need to make a ton of great saves, but he did steal a handful of chances from Belleville shooters.

Ottawa’s penalty killers were getting the job done, as they killed off all 7 Belleville man advantages.  The power play also worked well, scoring a pair of goals on 4 chances, including a late PP that saw Coach Chris Byrne reward some of the grinders with power play time and kept the snipers on the bench.

MY 3 STARS

This was another occasion where I agreed completely with the in-house 3 star selections:

3. Petr Mrazek – recorded his 3rd shutout of the season

2. Sean Callaghan – Scored his first 2 OHL goals

1. Shane Prince – 3G, 1A as his hot streak continues

The Bulls will definitely have revenge in mind when they meet again, and that encounter will be in short order, as Ottawa travels to Belleville this Wednesday night.

The 67′s weren’t really in this game at all, starting from the opening faceoff.  They were dominated in the first period, and the Storm got off to an early start when potential first rounder Scott Kosmanchuk absolutely undressed Ottawa’s top defense pair of Marc Zanetti and Cody Ceci and beat Petr Mrazek high glove side for a highlight reel goal, before the three minute mark.  Patrick Walting doubled the lead just over 4 minutes later, as he beat Mrazek low blocker side from the slot.  It looked as though Ottawa would let this one get out of hand early as Mike Vlajkov was sent off for cross-checking, giving the Storm another power play.  However, Tyler Toffoli swept in on his off wing and powered a wrister past Garret Sparks to cut the lead.  However, before that goal was even announced, Andrey Pedan’s point shot through traffic was tipped home by Francis Menard to restore Guelph’s two goal cushion.  Brett Gustavsen’ ill-advised check from behind earned him a double minor that threatened to put the 67′s in a gaping hole, but they managed to kill it off.  The 67′s managed only 2 shots through the first 18 and a half minutes, but a late power play saw them get 4 shots to make it at least a respectable total after 1, being outshot only 11-6.  Trailing 3-1 and being dominated thoroughly didn’t bode well for the remainder of the game however.

Just over 5 minutes into the second, Ryan Van Stralen and Spencer Turcotte squared off in an entertaining tilt that Van Stralen would be given the decision in on a judged fight.  With Ottawa on the PP, Toffoli walked in from the point to the high slot and his put his 40th goal of the season past Sparks to make it 3-2.  Again, Guelph refused to let Ottawa get momentum, and they answered back less than a minute later as rookie Hunter Garlent’s weak shot from near the blue line beat Mrazek to restore the 2 goal lead, that they took to the dressing room after 40 minutes.

Garlent scored his second of the game before the ice was dry in the third, and it looked like Ottawa’s night was over, trailing by 3. They looked to be going through the motions for much of the period.  However, with just under 5 minutes left, and Sparks trapped behind the net, Remy Giftopoulos tapped home a pass from Van Stralen to make the game respectable.  With Ottawa pressing, Mike Cazolla whiffed on a one-timer, but Cody Ceci’s point shot went in off Shane Prince’s foot to cut the lead to 1 with over 4 minutes left.  Ottawa pressed, and had a handful of chances with the goalie pulled, but the hole was just too big and Guelph escaped with the 5-4 victory.

MY 3 STARS

3.  Tyler Toffoli – SHG and PPG was the only offense from Ottawa in the first 55 minutes.

2.  Hunter Garlent – His pair of goals put Ottawa into the hole they couldn’t escape from.

1.  Scott Kosmachuk – Assisted on both of Garlent’s goals, and opened the scoring with the nicest goal of the night.

GAME NOTES:

Cody Ceci returned after missing 3 games with a lower body injury.  Ottawa played without top 6 forwards Dalton Smith and John McFarland.  They essentially played with 11 forwards, and 7th defenseman Sean Callaghan saw spot duty up front.

It was ladies night at the game, and the 67′s added a nice touch by introducing many of the players’ moms before the game.  To bad their sons didn’t show much effort in the first 55 minutes to give them a win.

It was Ottawa’s 3rd straight loss, following Thursday’s OT loss in Peterborough.  This streak has allowed Niagara to pull within one point of the 67′s for first in the conference.  Niagara plays their game in hand Saturday against Barrie, and are coming off an 11-0 thrashing of Mississauga on Thursday.

With the Edmonton Oilers in town for a couple of days ahead of Saturday’s game against the Senators, GM Steve Tambellini and President Kevin Lowe were in attendance last night to check out some of the top prospects.  In my mind, Kosmachuk raised his stock with his play.  Other potential first rounders Matt Finn (Guelph) missed the game, and Cody Ceci showed a little rust in his return.

Ottawa remains at home and take on the Belleville Bulls on Sunday afternoon, at 2 pm.

Coming off a so-so weekend where the 67′s fell to the Kingston Frontenacs with an uneven effort, Ottawa will look to put together 3 complete games, and the Saturday rest should help reach that goal.

Going into this weekend, Sean Monahan will be key.  The go-to centre has only 1 point in his last 4 games and more production is needed from the youngster if the 67′s are going to fend off the hard-charging IceDogs.

OTTAWA 67′s @ PETERBOROUGH PETES – Thurs. Feb 9th, 7:00 pm  (ROGERS 22 & 580CFRA)

Ottawa marched into Peterborough 3 weeks ago tonight and it was the Shane Prince show as he put up 2 goals and 4 assists en route to a 9-4 67′s victory.  Although the teams are at different levels of the OHL spectrum (Ottawa leads the Petes by 17 points) both clubs have something important to play for.  The Petes are 3 points up on the Belleville Bulls for the 8th and final playoff spot, while Niagara is hot on the 67′s heels, only 2 points behind for the conference’s top seed.

This will be the 7th of 8 meetings this season, with the final one going next Friday in Ottawa.  The way things are shaping up, it could also be a first round playoff preview.  The 67′s hold a 5-1 edge so far.

GUELPH STORM @ OTTAWA 67′s – Fri Feb 10th, 7:30 pm (ROGERS 22 & TEAM 1200)

Ottawa faces the Storm for the first time this season on Friday night, as the opposite conference doesn’t visit very often.   Guelph won both ends of the home and home series last year.  The Storm, like the Petes, are in a dogfight with the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They will be rested, having not played since a Tuesday night loss to the Kitchener Rangers, which was their fourth loss in a row.

The Storm feature defenseman Matt Finn, who could be a late first round/early 2nd round pick in this summer’s entry draft.  Right Winger Scott Kosmachuk is also highly ranked, most likely a second round pick.  Both played in last week’s Top Prospects game.  Garrett Sparks is the workhorse in the Guelph net, as the Leafs’ late round pick last summer has appeared in 41 of Guelph’s 52 games so far this season.

BELLEVILLE BULLS @ OTTAWA 67′s – Sun Feb 12th 2:00 pm (ROGERS 22 & TEAM 1200)

The Bulls are a familiar foe for the 67′s, and they will close out their season series with games Sunday in Ottawa and then Tuesday in Belleville.  Ottawa is 5-1 so far this season, as they have dominated their divisional rivals.  Belleville heads into the weekend on the outside of the playoff picture, trailing the Petes by 3 points (but with 3 games in hand.)

Belleville should be ready for a run, after the return of Malcolm Subban (one of the top rated goalies for the upcoming draft), who returned last Friday night after missing a month and a half with a leg injury.  How important is Subban to the Bulls?  With him in the lineup they are 14-6-0, and without him they have gone 10-18-1 when he doesn’t play.

Get out to the rink and cheer on the 67′s Friday and Sunday!

In the second the tide started to turn, beginning with Conor Stokes‘ power play goal less than 4 minutes in, followed quickly thereafter by Warren Steele‘s marker to put the visitors up one.  Just past the midway point of the game Kingston went up 2 goals when Darcy Greenaway was the beneficiary of a misplay by 67′s defenseman Michal Cajkovsky and buried the breakaway shot past Petr Mrazek.  Falling behind by 2  seemed to wake the 67′s up a bit, and they used back to back power play goals from Marc Zanetti and Mike Cazzola to even the score in less than 5 minutes, which is how the game went to the third.

Kingston carried much of the play and they looked like they wanted it more during the third period.  They were out-hustling the 67′s to loose pucks and eventually they were rewarded as Stokes’ crossing pass was deflected in by Kyler Nixon for what would turn out to be the game winner.  The 67′s couldn’t find the answer and they ended up losing  the game 4-3.

MY 3 STARS

3.  Mike Cazzola  (OTT)- 1 G, 2 A in the losing effort

2. Darcy Greenaway (KGN)- 1G, 2A in the win

1.  Igor Bobkov (KGN)- 14 first period saves was the reason Kingston even had a chance in this one.

GAME NOTES

This was a frustrating one to watch and see a vastly superior team in terms of talent basically shut it down for the final two periods at even strength and lose a game that should have been out of hand after one.  I understand what Coach Byrne is trying to do with the lineup changes that were in place for a second straight game, but it isn’t working at even strength.

The defenseive pairing of Mike Vlajkov and Cajkovsky struggled today, and both were -2.  Cajkovsky badly misplayed the puck that led to Greenaway’s goal and they just plain didn’t play very well.

These are points that Ottawa can’t afford to give away in the Eastern Conference standings if they want home ice advantage throughout the first 3 rounds.  They are 3-3 against Kingston this season, a team that is outside the playoffs already.  With Niagara charging hard in the central division, games like this are the ones you look back on at the end of the season and regret if you don’t reach your goal.

The 67′s weekend is over, and they are off until Thursday night when they travel to Peterborough, followed by Friday night hosting the Guelph Storm and the Belleville Bulls on Sunday.

MY 3 STARS

3.  Kevin Baillie – G – OSH – Kept the high-scoring 67′s at bay for most of the game, making 34 saves.

2. Shane Prince – LW- OTT – Scored the go-ahead goal in the third when it was still in doubt, was the most dangerous player on the ice for either team.

1.  Petr Mrazek – G – OTT -Matched Baillie save for save, also making 34 saves.  Was Ottawa’s best penalty killer for a unit that was very busy.

this time I agreed completely with the in-house stars, as they were identical to mine.

GAME NOTES

Ottawa played the game without two of its top 4 blueliners, as Cody Ceci and Jake Cardwell were out with injuries.  Taylor Fielding moved back to his defensive position after playing much of the season up front, and Mike Vlajkov saw more action than usual.  Tyler Toffoli played the point on the first power play unit out of necessity, which offered a different dynamic.  I wouldn’t think that experiment would continue for very long as he looked a little uncomfortable in the situation.

The top three lines were juggled for this match, as Dalton Smith was moved to the third line with Graovac and Janes, while John McFarland was moved to Monahan and Toffoli’s line.  Remy Giftopoulos replaced McFarland on a unit with Prince and Cazzola to complete the shuffle.  It was a curious move to me, as the lines, most notably the Prince-Cazzola-McFarland line was playing stellar hockey.  Toffoli was pointless in this game, but maintained his 3 point cushion in the scoring race.

Questionable officiating was the theme of the night, with a number of questionable calls for both sides.  It was hard to tell what was going to be called and what would be let go, especially when interference and hooking were concerned.  However, there were 2 checking from behind calls against the 67′s, one that was warranted and one that wasn’t.  Ryan Van Stralen saw numbers the whole time but still decked Colin Suellentrop into the boards in the second period.  Marc Zanetti also took one later in the period, but from my perspective, Scott Sabourin turned his back to the 67′s captain just before the hit, and there was nothing Zanetti could do to hold up.

It was nice to see Sean Callaghan and Mike Vlajkov both pick up assists, as the rookie defensemen saw more action than usual with the veterans out of the lineup.  Especially Callaghan, who for my money has been the most improved player since the beginning of the season.  He has played hard-nosed defense, and I was happy to see him rewarded on his nice stretch pass to McFarland to set up the game’s first goal.  Vlajkov netted his 4th point of the season on his 17th birthday….making me feel very old!

Oshawa played without star centre Boone Jenner, who also missed the game with an injury.  The Generals should still be a better team offensively at least, with a number of quality offensive players.  Lucas Lessio is the player who I notice most on the Generals every time I see them.  He is a gritty player who you hate to play against but love to have on your team.

Watching the out of town scoreboard, one of the clubs hot on the heels of the 67′s won, while the other suffered a very disappointing loss.  Niagara defeated the #1 ranked London Knights 3-2 right in London, showing that the IceDogs are indeed for real. Meanwhile, the Brampton Battalion went into Erie and dropped a 7-4 decision to the woeful Erie Otters, who have yet to win 10 games (it was their 7th) this season.  Ottawa stays 4 points up on Niagara and moves 6 points up on the Battalion.  The two teams play each other on Saturday, in St. Catherines.  The best outcome for the 67′s would be an Ottawa win and a Brampton regulation win, which would open up a 6 point cushion on both clubs.  Ottawa is all but guaranteed to win the Eastern Division and a top 2 playoff seed, as they lead Peterborough by 17 points.

Quick turnaround as the 67′s play a rare Saturday afternoon home game.  Puck drop against the Kingston Frontenacs is at 2 pm.  The Fronts come in having lost a Friday night home game to the Peterborough Petes.

Oshawa Generals @ Ottawa 67′s  (Friday February 3rd 7:30 PM  ROGERS 22 & 580CFRA)

The Generals come into town in a battle with the Bulls for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They sit 2 points ahead of the Bulls, but have played 2 more games.  So the Generals will be playing with desperation as teams head down the final 1/3 of the season.   These two teams met in Ottawa two weeks ago, and it was an Ottawa rout as they chased Daniel Altshuller twice en route to an 8-3 victory.

This will be the 6th and final meeting of the season, and Ottawa holds a 3-2 edge, with one of the wins coming in a shootout.

The 67′s will be without top defenseman Cody Ceci, who is still recovering from a pinched nerve that caused him to miss Wednesday’s Top Prospects game.

Kingston Frontenacs vs Ottawa 67′s  (Saturday Feb 4th, 2:00 pm ROGERS 22 & TEAM 1200)

The last place Frontenacs make their 4th appearance in Ottawa this season, and 6th of 8 games against Ottawa this season.  Kingston is playing for pride as they sit 17 points out of a playoff spot with not many games left to go.

Kingston does have 2 of their 14 wins against the 67′s this season, including a 7-4 drubbing at the J Benson Cartage Centre back in November.  However, this is not the same Frontenacs club, as they traded a number of veterans before the trade deadline last month in order to get younger and build for the future.  Combine that with the suspension to Alex Gudbranson and there isn’t a ton of talent in Kingston.
However, they still have goaltender Igor Bobkov, who is more than capable of stealing a game on any night, and has given the 67′s fits on more than one occasion.

The 67′s will be wearing special blue Barber Pole jerseys for this game in support of  prostate cancer research, and the jerseys will be auctioned off following the game at teamprostatecancer.ca.

The first period was an absolute dud, as by my guess there were about 50 whistles, which slowed the pace of play to a crawl.  It’s tough to determine who was the better team, but Ottawa had a 12-5 edge in shots, with neither team being able to break the ice.

That was surprising considering the offensive talent on display in the game.  Sarnia has the #3 scorer  in the OHL in Charles Sarault, and they also welcomed back phenom and potential #1 overall pick Nail Yakupov back to their lineup.  Yakupov is averaging over 2 points per game, but had missed 19 of the Sting’s last 22 games with injuries and the World Juniors, where he won a Silver Medal. the Sting also bulked up at the trade deadline, adding Ottawa nemesis Ryan Spooner and Tyler J Brown from Kingston and Adrian Roberton from Windsor as well as goalie JP Anderson from Mississauga.

With all the offensive ability in the game, the opening goal came from a rather unlikely source.  Ottawa defenseman turned forward Taylor Fielding got the 67′s on the board when he blew past Sarnia defenseman who missed keeping the puck in at the Ottawa blue line.  Fielding beat him to the puck and although he flubbed the shot a little bit, the end over end shot fooled Anderson and gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead. Tyler Toffoli converted a nice feed from Sean Monahan just over 10 minutes later to double the lead.  Ryan Spooner cut that lead in half before the period was over, on a goal that Petr Mrazek would like to have back, as the puck just seemed to go through his glove.

The score stayed the same until just past the midway point of the third, when on the power play, Cody Ceci‘s shot from mid-point eluded Anderson.  The shot was deflected by a Sarnia foward and flittered up and over Anderson, who didn’t see it.  Yakupov showed some flash as he stole the puck from Ceci just inside the Ottawa blue line and turned around and broke in on Mrazek and ,put it past him with some sweet hands.  Shane Prince quickly restored the 2 goal cushion, taking a Mike Cazzola drop pass just inside the Sting line and wristed a water-bottle popper top shelf.  Daniel Broussard, just back from his 8 game suspension, also earned an assist on the goal, against his former Sting teammates.  The Sting pressed all  out in the third, outshooting the 67′s 26-15 in the frame, but Mrazek was solid, allowing Mike Cazzola to ice the match with an empty netter, assisted by Prince, the third point of the game for each player.

My 3 Stars

3. Mike Cazzola (OTT) – 1G, 2A

2. Petr Mrazek (OTT) – 40 saves, including 26 in the third period

1.  Shane Prince – 1G, 2A

OTHER NOTES

Ottawa missed a golden opportunity to go up 2-0 with a 2 man advantage for 1:58 early in the second period.  The power play did everything but score, as they controlled the puck in the Sarnia end for 1:53 straight of that time, without a whistle.  Ottawa had a number of chances, including Toffoli fanning on a one-timer, but just couldn’t get a goal.  Thankfully it didn’t come back to haunt them.

Some lineup juggling as the game progressed as Fielding replaced John McFarland on the Prince-Cazzola line for most of the second half of this game.  I didn’t see anything to resemble a injury, but McFarland took a couple of penalties early on, so it might have been a message sent by coach Byrne.  Fielding played perhaps his best game of the season as he is looking more and more comfortable playing the wing as the season goes along.

With the return of Brassard, it was Sean Callaghan who was a healthy scratch from the lineup, which surprises me.  Since Christmas, I thought the rookie blueliner had started to become a dominant shutdown defenseman and the 67′s most physical player.  If it were me, Callaghan would be playing every night.

I’m glad I got the chance to see Yakupov in person, and although he wasn’t likely at 100%, he showed flashes of speed and puck-handling ability that was reminiscent of Pavel Bure. Although he tried to be physical at times, he looked more like a mosquito buzzing around the larger 67′s players than having any real impact.  But give him credit for trying.

On a personal note, a quick congrats and thank you to the 67′s security and guest services, who dealt with an issue my step-son had with a couple of (for lack of a better word) bullies while attending the game last night.  They responded quickly and compassionately to the incident and we thank them. Also, to parents of children who might be bullying, please ensure that you pay attention to what is going on and talk to you kids about the harmful effects bullying can have on other people.  It is not a fun experience to be a  victim like that, and thanks again to the security and guest services people involved.

The 67′s head on the road for the rest of the weekend, playing in Barrie on Saturday and Owen Sound on Sunday.  Brampton lost on Friday, meaning the 67′s have a 4 point lead on both the Battalion and the Niagara Ice Dogs for first in the conference, and a comfortable 15 point cushion in the East Division.