First road win, first home loss wraps up bittersweet weekend for Gens
The Oshawa Generals battled for four points of a possible six in their last three games. Here, Stillman battles for the puck during Oshawa’s 5-2 victory over the Peterborough Petes on Oct. 14.
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
Overall, Oshawa Generals head coach Bob Jones says he is happy with his team’s play as they battled for a pair of wins in a three-game weekend.
“I think anytime you win two out of three in a weekend, you’ve got to be happy with the points you’ve grabbed,” Jones says. “It’s disappointing to lose the third game at home. It was a hard-fought game and we didn’t get the results we wanted.”
The loss came on Sunday, Oct. 16 when the club fell 5-3 to the Sudbury Wolves at the General Motors Centre.
Mitch Vande Sompel got things started in the game after he ripped a wrist shot top corner during a Gens powerplay.
However, with each Gens goal came a pair of bites from the Wolves as the Sudbury club would add two quick goals near the end of the period. Before the end of the frame, captain Anthony Cirelli would add his sixth of the season to even the score.
Sudbury would add another in the second, the only goal of the frame, and extend the lead to 4-2 early in the third.
Domenic Commisso, working off a pair of goals earlier in the weekend during Oshawa’s 5-2 win over the Peterborough Petes and the team’s 2-1 victory over the Niagara Ice Dogs, would add yet another for his sixth of the season, this time short-handed to enliven the crowd of just over 4,000 at the GM Centre.
However, it would prove to not be enough, as the Wolves would add another into the empty net to seal the deal.
Afer the game, Cirelli said this early in the season, the club is still trying to find their footing, but the pair of victories over the weekend shows that they’re getting closer.
“We’re just trying to find our game right now,” he said. “The past few games, I think we’ve done that and we’ve had a team identity going, so we just got to keep playing the way we’ve got to play.”
And save for some struggles on the powerplay – Oshawa went one-for-six in the game – Jones says a few different bounces and it could have been a very different result.
“I like our bunch. These guys are proven players in this league. Sometimes, the puck doesn’t bounce your way, but as long as you’re getting attempts to the net, good things will happen eventually,” he says.
Sunday’s loss was Oshawa’s first on home ice after going 4-0 to start the season at the GM Centre. The Saturday night win against Niagara marked another first on the year, with the victory over the IceDogs being the Gens’ first victory on the road.
“We’re happy where we are, we’re moving in the right direction, but there’s always places to improve,” says Vande Sompel.
Currently, Oshawa (5-5-0-0) sits tied for second in the East Division with the Peteborough Petes with 10 points.
The club is back in action on Oct. 21 when they face off at home against the Sarnia Sting. Puck drop is set for 7:35 p.m. at the GM Centre.