Gens clinch playoff spot
By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express
The Generals have clinched a playoff spot after a weekend which finished with a tight win against the Windsor Spitfires at home.
The game began with a scoreless first period as Oshawa’s Zachary Paputsakis and Windsor’s Xavier Medina shut down both opposing offences.
However, things changed in the second period when Allan McShane tipped a shot from Brett Neumann past Medina to open the scoring.
Five minutes later, Will Cuylle would tie the game back up before the period drew to a close.
Heading into the final frame, both teams were looking to up the pressure, but it was Oshawa who found the back of the net when captain Kyle MacLean took a pass from the point and fired it past Medina to hand the Gens a 2-1 victory over the Spitfires.
Oshawa went two-for-four on the power play, while being perfect on the penalty kill. The team was also outshout 39 to 33 by Windsor.
They took home two stars of the game with Paputsakis (38 saves on 39 shots), and MacLean were the first and second stars respectively.
In earlier action, the Gens were in Hamilton taking on the Bulldogs.
It took a while for either team to break through before MacLean fired the puck through a sea of defenders to open the scoring.
As the Gens went into the second with a one-goal lead, they were looking to up the ante.
Neumann took less than a minute to score as he received a quick pass from McShane in front of the net, which he then flipped into the back of the net to double the lead.
Ryan Stepien then took hold of the puck and fired it at the net in the hopes of finding a hole and, much to the surprise of goaltender Zachary Roy, it indeed found an opening.
Facing a three-goal deficit, the Bulldogs made the Gens feel a little uncomfortable as they quickly scored twice, cutting the lead down to one.
However, Philip Tomasino found himself waiting in front of an open net when he took a pass from Giovanni Vallati, which he subsequently tipped in.
Heading into the final frame with a two-goal lead, the Gens were looking to make the lead more comfortable when Mitchell Brewer cleared the puck from Oshawa’s end, only for it to find the empty net with less than 30 seconds left in the game.
With the 5-2 victory in hand, Oshawa went one-for-two on the power play, while also outshooting Hamilton 29-22.
The Gens also once again took home the top two stars of the game, with Stepien (one goal, one assist) and Tomasino (one goal) earning the honours.
The Generals were also in Kingston taking on the Frontenacs this weekend where they lost 4-3 in overtime. Brett Harrison was the third star of the game after scoring one goal and an assist.
After earning five of six possible points over the weekend, the Gens now hit the road for two games before returning home to take on the Eastern Conference-leading Ottawa 67’s on Sunday, March 1 at 6:05 p.m.