Betts pays off for IceDogs
The goaltender of the future for the Niagara IceDogs continues to make strides in the present.
Joey Costanzo has endured his normal share of growing pains as a rookie but has made significant progress since the beginning of the season.
The 16-year-old Toronto native turned in one of his best performances of the season Tuesday, kicking out 32 shots as the IceDogs edged the Peterborough Petes 2-1 in overtime in Ontario Hockey League action at the Meridian Centre.
The win improves Niagara’s record to 18-35-3-1. They trail the Petes by 13 points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 11 games remaining in their regular season schedule.
“The first thing we said in there (dressing room) was what a great job by him,” IceDogs coach Billy Burke said of Costanzo. “I had so much confidence in him tonight.
“Very calm, very confident. He’s a real student of the game how he works with video and works with Jay (goaltender coach Jason Barron). His growth from the start of the year to now has been outstanding.”
Costanzo has played 13 games while Josh Rosenzweig has handled the bulk of the goaltending duties as the IceDogs don’t want to overwhelm Costanzo with too much, too fast as he gets his feet wet at the OHL level.
“It’s a tough balance,” Burke said. “If we felt we were wasting starts by starting Costanzo, he would never play. We believe he can go in and beat teams, guys are pumped up to play in front of him, so whenever he plays he’s at that point now where he’s a legitimate OHL goalie.”
Burke said the sky is the limit for Costanzo.
“He’s going to have fantastic future in this league. We have a ton of confidence in him and it’s all because of his hard work. He’s in the video room, he’s in the gym. He’s an unbelievably hard worker and you’re seeing the fruits of that.”
The IceDogs grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first on Declan Waddick’s sixth of the season before the Petes answered with a goal by Justin DeZoete.
That was it for the scoring until Niagara captain Dakota Betts netted the winner 32 seconds into overtime.
“It was a weird game with a lot of penalties, some guys going long stretches without playing,” Burke said. “Not a lot of flow. It definitely felt like a Tuesday night game. It didn’t exactly feel like New Year’s Eve.”
The game was originally scheduled for Dec. 31, 2021 but rescheduled due to the COVID pandemic.
“The guys found a way,” Burke added. “Early in the season we would have found a way to lose this game but guys were able to bear down and make those hard plays when we needed them.”
Ice cubes: Cameron Peters, Ilia Chmelevski, Sami Douglas-Najem and Rodwin Dionicio (suspension) were scratched for the IceDogs . . . Quinton Page, Liam Sztuska, Stevie Leskovr, Konnor Smith, Shawn Spearing, Zack Lewis and Jaden Reyers did not dress for the Petes . . . Niagara forward Anthony Agostinelli was helped off the ice early in the third period after sliding awkwardly into the boards. He injured his hip but was walking around the dressing room after the game. His status will be updated Wednesday.
Niagara’s Dakota Betts and Peterborough’s Justin DeZoete
STATS PACK
IceDogs 2 Petes 1 OT
Niagara IceDogs: Dakota Betts (6); Declan Waddick (6).
Peterborough Petes: Justin DeZoete (9).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Niagara on Tye Austin (24), by Peterborough on Joseph Costanzo (33); Power plays: Niagara 0/5, Peterborough 0/5; Penalty minutes: Niagara 10, Peterborough 10.
Attendance: 3,375
Up next: Erie at Niagara Thursday.
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