IceDogs dominate 67’s
Danil Gushchin had two goals and two assists Monday as the Niagara IceDogs topped the Ottawa 67’s 7-3 in Ottawa. File photo: OHL IMAGES.
The Niagara IceDogs’ offence came to life Monday afternoon in Ottawa.
Liam VanLoon and Danil Gushchin each scored a pair of goals to lead the IceDogs to a 7-3 triumph over the Ottawa 67’s in Ontario Hockey League action at TD Place.
The seven-goal outburst was the most for the IceDogs since an 8-7 win almost one month ago in Oshawa.
IceDogs assistant coach Jody Hull was happy to see a crooked number of the scoreboard for a change.
“We talk about that all the time, play with confidence and things like that,” Hull said. “Sometimes they don’t go in and sometimes they do. At the end of the day, if you continue to get opportunities and chances, they’re eventually going to go in.
“We’ve been doing that. We haven’t got the benefit of the doubt too often but lately that’s been happening for us and it was nice to see us capitalize on more chances than not.”
Hull said there was no magic formula that led to the outburst.
“We always talk about our structure and making sure we’re getting pucks to the net and we’re going to the net,” he said. “We started off a little flat and that was based off the game yesterday (5-2 loss in Kingston) but once we got our legs under us a little bit we started to skate and were able to put pucks to areas where we could get them back and create a little bit of offensive zone time. Anytime you do that you’re going to generate shots and opportunities and we were able to capitalize on those opportunities.”
Brendan Sirizzotti added a goal and two assists while rookie Juan Copeland continued his fine play with a goal and an assist. Brice Cooke also scored while Dakota Betts chipped in with two assists.
“It just wasn’t one or two guys. It was the entire group that responded and that’s all you can ask from them,” Hull said.
Josh Rosenzweig turned back 25 of 28 shots to pick up the win.
Vinzenz Rohrer had two goals and Chris Barlas one for the Gens.
Sunday at Kingston, Cooke and Aidan Castle scored.
Niagara led 2-1 after one period before the Frontenacs scored three times in the second and once more in the third.
The IceDogs (16-34-2-1) are at Barrie Thursday, then home to the Sudbury Wolves Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 3,900 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
