Resilience wins the day for Gens

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

It was a hard 20 minutes to watch.

The Oshawa Generals came out flat-footed against a fast-paced Owen Sound team at the General Motors Centre on Feb. 15, falling behind 4-1, the victim of three power play goals from the Attack.

However, one Gens goal after another punched more and more energy into a crowd of nearly 6,000 out for the OHL club’s Family Day game, which saw Oshawa tie the game 4-4 with under two minutes to go, and eventually win the game in overtime.

“We were really out of the game after the first period,” head coach Bob Jones said following the win. “Obviously, we had a terrible start to the game. Our penalty killing was really bad.”

Captain Anthony Cirelli would score the lone Generals marker in the first period, but Oshawa would leave the ice dejected.

Coming back, Cirelli credits the crowd with pushing some energy into his team.

“They were loud, they were cheering all game long. I think it helped us a lot,” he said.

In the second period, defender Stephen Templeton would bring the Gens within two with the second goal of his OHL career, followed by Lukas Lofquist who would send the game to the third with Oshawa only trailing by one.

After that, it was all Kenny Heuther.

Oshawa’s leading scorer would tie the game with under two minutes to go, which was met with an explosion from those in attendance. In three-on-three overtime, Heuther would find a gap between the post and goaltender and go up top to seal the victory.

Heuther complimented his pair of goals with a trio of assists as well, his first five-point performance in the OHL. Following the game, he gave credit to the entire team for the win.

“We’re a hard working team. We don’t have a lot of flash players here and we know we have to go out and have to compete every night and outwork the opponent,” he said.

A well-known quality of last year’s Memorial Cup winning team, Jones says his club has had that resilience all year long, although it may not have been as clear in other games.

“I think it’s a little more evident tonight,” he said. “For most nights this year, I’ve liked our performance. We don’t always get the results. I find this is an extremely hard working team, some people think we’re being outworked at times, but they’re not.”

The win over Owen Sound was Oshawa’s second of the weekend after defeating rival Peterborough Petes 4-1 on Feb. 11.

Oshawa would split the wins with a 3-0 loss to the Ottawa 67s on Feb. 12.

Cirelli said he was happy overall with the weekend.

“We’re fighting for our playoff lives here and any points that we get is great for us,” he says.

With less than 20 games to go in the regular season, Oshawa still clings to the eight and last playoff position, battling with the Hamilton Bulldogs for a post-season slot.

Jones says his team is going to need to learn how to play a full 60-minute game to move ahead.

“It’s a challenge sometimes for a young team,and it’s been a challenge for us for most of the year, but we have to find a way,” he said.

The Generals are staring down another three-game weekend as they get set to take on the Kitchener Rangers on Feb. 19, followed by the Barrie Colts on Feb. 20.

Oshawa returns home on Feb. 21 to host the Ottawa 67s. Puck drop is set for 6:05 p.m.