IceDogs slip past Generals in overtime
By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express
The first two homes games for the Oshawa Generals have left fans sitting on the edge of their seats for the most part of 60 minutes.
After gaining a 5-4 victory in their home opener against London on Oct. 1, the Gens were on the wrong side of that same score Sunday night against the Niagara IceDogs.
After a relatively slow start to the game, Kenny Huether put Oshawa up 1-0 with his fourth goal of the season at 15:21 of the first period.
Undaunted, the IceDogs scored twice in about a minute to go up 2-1 halfway through the first frame.
Generals fans would get the last cheer of the period as Allan McShane netted his first goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2. Serron Noel and William Ennis picked up the assists.
Ten minutes into the second with Oshawa down a man, Niagara’s Brent Jones scored two power-play goals within 20 seconds to break the tie and put the IceDogs up by two.
However, momentum would fall back onto the side of the Generals, with Domenic Commisso scoring his second of the season at 11:41, then Kyle MacLean knotting things up at 4-4 with his first of the season at 19:24.
The third period would see the Generals on their heels but showing a strong defensive effort with goalie Logan Gauthier stopping 10 shots while Oshawa only managed four.
If overtime didn’t present enough pressure, the Gens started the extra period down a man due to a delay of game penalty called at the end of the third. Ultimately, they were able to kill off that penalty, but Niagara’s Matthew Phillip put a quick end to the game knocking in his own rebound at 3:26 to give the IceDogs the win.
The loss drops Oshawa’s record to 3-2-1. With seven points, they are currently tied for fourth in the OHL’s East Division with the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Based on total points, the East is the strongest division in the league so far this year and the Generals sit seventh overall in the Eastern Conference.
The opportunity to pull ahead of Hamilton will come this Friday, Oct. 13 as the Generals face the Bulldogs at the Tribute Communities Centre at 7:35 p.m., the first of three games in three days over the weekend.