Unlikely hero scores OT winner for Canucks
Niagara Falls Canucks forward Ryan Smith had an easy time remembering his last overtime goal.
“I don’t think I have ever scored one and I don’t think I have even been put in the situation to score one,” said the 19-year-old Kingston native, moments after his overtime winner gave the Niagara Falls Canucks a 4-3 victory over the St. Catharines Falcons in Game 1 of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, Golden Horseshoe Conference finals Friday night at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls.
“Here I have gotten an opportunity that Frank (head coach Pietrangelo) has given me and I am very grateful for it,” said the former fifth-round pick of the Niagara IceDogs. “In my hockey career before this, I have always been the guy cheering the boys on and hoping they would score, but not having an impact on the game.
“I was glad to have an impact tonight.”
Smith much prefers being an impact player compared to a cheerleader.
“To be honest, it makes hockey fun again and I am out there playing a game I love to play,” the 6-foot-1, 190-pound forward said. “To have a chance to make an impact on the game is a lot more fun than watching.”
Only one thought went through his mind after he netted the winner.
“On to Game 2 baby,” he said. “That was all that I was thinking.”
Smith joined the Canucks after leaving the Chicoutimi Saguenéens of the QMJHL at the trade deadline. In 86 games with Chicoutimi, he recorded five goals, 11 assists and 150 penalty minutes.
“This year, I don’t think I was being used to my full potential so I made a tough decision at the trade deadline and told my coach that I was going to head back to Ontario,” he said. “I was hoping to play some hockey, go on a run with these guys and make some memories.”
It didn’t take him long to feel at home in Niagara Falls.
“It took less than a week,” he said. “The boys in the room are all great guys and older guys my age. We all bonded and we are a family in there.”
Smith, who now has a goal and seven assists in eight playoff games, is described by Pietrangelo as a great kid.
“He is a hard worker and it is nice to see him get rewarded because he doesn’t put much ownership in scoring goals,” he said. “He does a lot of things for us that go unnoticed; face-offs, PK (penalty kill) and he just works his ass off every time on the ice.
“Someone has to be the hero and it’s nice to see Smitty get it.”
Pietrangelo puts a lot of trust in Smith and feels that he has more in him to give as a hockey player.
“If you ever watch him in practice, this kid has got all the tools,” he said. “He’s built like an NHLer, he can shoot the puck like a pro and he skates like the wind, but he has been in situations where he has in the Q and the O and he was a fourth-line checker.”
Being given that role can make a player lose his confidence.
“I talked to him and told him it is a different level here,” Pietrangelo said. “He can do a lot more, but it’s not an easy transition after doing that for three years.
“I’m hoping we see more of what he did tonight, but if he doesn’t we are still happy. He works his butt off every time he is on the ice.”
Falcons head coach/GM Frank Girhiny was pleased with his team’s play and the squad probably deserved a better fate. They bottled up Niagara Falls for large stretches of the game and did a lot of good things.
“It was a really good road game,” he said. “We were resilient, we were down and tied the game up late in the third on the power play and I thought we had a really good overtime.”
But it still wasn’t enough.
“We had a little breakdown in our coverage and they were able to score,” Girhiny said. “They scored three goals off the rush, which we don’t like, and we are going to have to figure that out but, all in all, it was a good road game coming off a hard series.”
“We know we are able to play with them and to take them to overtime in this rink, we are quite happy.”
Pietrangelo was pleased with the outcome, but not his team’s overall performance.
“The win is great, but we have to play much better,” he said. “We were coming off a series against Pelham and they are coming off a series against Hamilton and I thought that they were at a higher level than us.
“For the most part, we chased the puck.”
But the Canucks did enough to win.
“Our guys showed character by not bowing our heads and mailing it in,” he said. “We weren’t at our best, buy we pulled out a win.”
STATS PACK
Canucks 4 Falcons 3 (OT)
BPSN Star of the Game: Niagara Falls defenceman David D’Agostino with two goals.
For the Niagara Falls Canucks: D’Agostino (6, 7); Andrew Bruno (3); Ryan Smith (1)
For the St. Catharines Falcons: Jacob Kelly (5); Kyle West (5); Josh Urbshot (1).
Game stats: Shots on goal: by Niagara Falls on Noah Battaglia 26, by St. Catharines on Zach Moore 32. Power plays: Niagara Falls 1-4, St. Catharines 2-8. Penalty minutes: Niagara Falls 22, St. Catharines 14.
Up next: Game 2 of the series is Sunday at 7 p.m. at Jack Gatecliff Arena in St. Catharines.
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