IceDogs storm back in overtime
Andrew Wycisk went from goat to hero in the span of a few short minutes Sunday night.
The 18-year-old defenceman potted the winner just 16 seconds into overtime to give the IceDogs a 6-5 win over the Guelph Storm as Niagara opened the second half of the Ontario Hockey League season and wrapped up 2023 at the Meridian Centre.
The goal came on the heels of an interference penalty Wycisk took late in the third period which permitted the Storm to tie the game on a power play.
“It felt really good, a little bit of redemption I guess,” Wycisk said.
The goal put an end to a wild, emotional game that saw the IceDogs jump out to an early lead, storm back to take the lead following an awful second period, only to have to rally once again in overtime.
“It’s a little bit tough but it’s also a lot of fun and we know that if we just stick to our structure and do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll be successful,” Wycisk said. “We never really lost confidence.”
IceDogs coach Ben Boudreau loved the pushback from his squad.
“Anytime you win you’re going to be really happy, but especially in that fashion,” Boudreau said. “I thought our players realized the momentum had shifted and they tried to take advantage of it.”
Niagara went up 2-0 after 20 minutes on goals from Kevin He (18) and Ethan Czata (3) before the Storm rallied with four goals in the second, the last with only .01 seconds remaining. Guelph outshot Niagara 15-3 in the period.
“We had lessons to learn throughout the game, especially in that second period,” Boudreau said. “You could see how we played as a team in the first and the third but once we went individualistic in the second it didn’t work. It was a quick lesson that we can’t play by ourselves, that we need to rely on our teammates and when you play as a team we’ll be as strong as we can possibly be.”
The IceDogs responded with a solid — if sometimes sloppy — effort in the third to get back into the game.
“The one thing we have is a big heart,” Boudreau said. “We didn’t give up and we kept going. We quickly picked our heads up and dusted ourselves off and went back to work.
“When you don’t give up and have that belief, it’s a sign of people with big hearts. We found way at the end of the day. You have to give credit to the kids in that room. I thought they battled as hard as they possibly could.”
Coming off a 6-3 loss at Erie Saturday and a 10-2 defeat in Owen Sound Thursday, Wycisk felt it was crucial to turn things around.
“It was definitely very important to get a little bit of confidence going into the new year and a little bit of pride within the room,” he said. “We definitely take pride in our effort. We believe our effort will eventually bring success if it’s not coming right now. That’s mostly how we stay positive and keep our spirits up.”
The IceDogs, 9-21-4-1, are six points behind Barrie for ninth place and 11 in arrears of Peterborough for the eighth and final playoff position in the Eastern Conference. The Petes also own a game in hand.
With a trade deadline of Jan. 10 looming, it will be interesting to see how IceDogs management handles the situation.
“This is a business at the end of the day and it’s a cycle with the OHL,” Boudreau said. “We all know what’s going on. When you’re out of the playoffs sometimes teams want to try to sell off their assets so they can build for the future, and the position we’re in, that would typically happen. You call a spade a spade. We’ll see what happens. We have a lot of conversations to have with the ownership and management right now and figure out what the best course going forward is for the Niagara IceDogs so we can win constantly for years to come.”
Ice cubes: Alex Assadourian, Gavin Bryant and Michael Podolioukh were not dressed for the IceDogs . . . Kyle Downey, Zackary Sandhu, Grant Spada, Cam Allen (Washington), Quinn Beauchesne and Adam Shillinglaw were scratched for the Storm . . . Former IceDogs head coach Daniel Fitzgerald is an assistant coach for the Storm . . . Mike Levin and Charlie Paquette dropped the gloves in the second period.
STATS PACK
IceDogs 6 Storm 5 OT
Niagara’s Ethan Czata with two goals and Guelph’s Braeden Bowman with three points.
Niagara IceDogs: Ethan Czata 2 (3,4); Kevin He 2 (18,19); Andrew Wycisk (5); Daniel Sobolev (2).
Guelph Storm: Braeden Bowman (19); Max Namestnikov (19); Jake Karabela (14); Jeff Luchanko (11); Gavin Grundner (4).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Niagara on Damian Slavik (34), by Guelph on Owen Flores (33); Power plays: Niagara 0/1, Guelph 2/6; Penalty minutes: Niagara 17, Guelph 7.
Attendance: 4,624.
Up next: The IceDogs are home to Owen Sound Friday and Windsor Sunday afternoon.
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