Gens riding high with win streak
By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express
The Gens were looking to add to a winning streak which began last weekend as they spent their Family Day taking on the Sudbury Wolves.
The first period at home against Sudbury began with a quick goal off the stick of Darian Pilon for the Wolves, putting the Gens behind early.
Oshawa was quick to respond however, as only a few minutes later Brett Neumann scored his 38th of the season off a quick shot in front of the net.
Not even five minutes later, rookie Nando Eggenberger finished off a game of tic-tac-toe to give the Gens an early 2-1 lead at the end of the first.
After a scoreless second, Quinton Byfield put one past Kyle Keyser to tie the game in the third, forcing overtime.
After no goals were scored in overtime, the first two Generals shooters were stopped by Sudbury goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukonen. However, Anthony Salinitri broke through and was able to even the shootout at one-a-piece.
Eggenberger was next for the Gens, as the Wolves missed their shot, and handed the Generals a 3-2 shootout victory.
Neumann was named the first star of the game as he scored one goal and had an assists, while Keyser was the third star after stopping 24 of 26 shots.
In earlier action the Gens were on the road in Flint taking on the Firebirds.
The first period started off with a goal from Flint’s Ty Dellandrea, but captain Kyle MacLean was able to tip one in off the rebound to tie the game on the powerplay.
Neumann scored another for Oshawa less than a minute later, also on the powerplay, to give Oshawa a 2-1 lead at the end of the first.
Both goalies stood tall for most of the second period as Serron Noel scored his 30th of the season on the backhand to further add to the lead.
The Wolves responded however, as Vladislav Kolyachonok brought them back to within one. The second period ended with the Gens up 3-2.
Heading into the third, the Gens continued to capitalize on their chances as Eggenberger tipped one in off a one-timer from Giovanni Vallati to give Oshawa a two-goal lead.
Once again less than a minute later, Neumann broke through the Flint defense and gave the Gens a three-goal lead.
The Firebirds would add two more, but would fall short as Oshawa would take a 5-4 victory in which they were outshot 37 to 25.
Neumann was the lone General to be named a star of the game as he was the first star after getting two goals and an assist.
The Gens continued their road trip against the Saginaw Spirit.
The game started out with a goal from Allan McShane, as he flipped one past Saginaw goalie Ivan Prosvetov to give Oshawa the early lead.
Not even 50 seconds later, Eggenberger and MacLean broke through the Spirit defense, with the former adding one more for the Gens.
They weren’t done there, as Brandon Saigeon scored his 36th of the season off a bullet from the blue line to give the Gens a 3-0 lead at the end of the first.
After a scoreless first half of the second, Eggenberger beat Prosvetov on a one-timer to give the Gens four unanswered goals.
The Spirit would finally break through however as Justin Murray would score one to make the score 4-1 at the end of the second.
In the third period, the lone goal would come off the stick of Ty Tullio, who took a pass from in front of the net and put it past Prosvetov to make the final score 5-1.
The Gens were once again outshot in the victory, as the Spirit had 30 shots to their 27.
Eggenberger was named the first star of the game after scoring twice and getting an assist, with Tullio being named the second star after a goal and an assist.
The Generals are now riding a seven game win streak as they have a two game weekend coming up, with the first game against the Mississauga Steelheads at home on Friday, Feb. 22 at 7:35 p.m., with another home game on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 6:05 p.m. against the Saginaw Spirit.