IceDogs edge Ottawa in season opener
Kevin He scored as the Niagara IceDogs topped the Ottawa 67s 3-2 in Ottawa to kick off the 2024/25 Ontario Hockey League season Friday. Photo: OHL IMAGES.
The Niagara IceDogs opened the 2024/25 season in Ottawa Friday with a well earned 3-2 victory.
Head coach Ben Boudreau was thrilled to kick off the schedule with a win following a pair of sub-par seasons that saw the club combine for only 29 wins and miss the playoffs twice.
“It’s not taboo to understand it is only one win, but it’s huge for our belief that we’re doing the right things and taking the right steps,” Boudreau said. “I think there’s a good core belief that this team can win obviously more than 12 to 17 games in a season.
“So it’s great to be accomplished for one night, but this isn’t a satisfied mindset by it by any means. We’ve got to keep it going.”
The IceDogs, who struggled terribly on with the man advantage last season, scored all three goals on the power play.
“We all know when you can have success on your special teams, you give yourself a chance to win. We scored three power play goals in the second period, which is all needed to carry us to a win.”
Up 3-1 after two periods, Boudreau would have liked to see the IceDogs be more aggressive with the lead.
“We kind of sat back on our heels in the third,” he said. “As a younger team, a newly assembled team trying to learn how to win together, I thought we thought too defensively rather than going on the offence.”
Boudreau said goaltender Owen Flores more than earned his keep.
“We let them attack, but Flores was the goalie that we needed him to be. He made a huge difference — 48 saves on 50 shots — he was the man. When you have a confident goaltender with a team playing in front of them, he made a lot of first saves, he really didn’t have to make two in a row. Our defence was there clearing everything out. There were a lot of one and done opportunities.”
Boudreau also liked what he saw from overage defenceman Noah Van Vliet.
“Van Vliet had some of the biggest hits I’ve seen and he had an unbelievable fight for over a minute at centre ice,” he said.
Kevin He, Mike Levin and Andrei Loshko scored for Niagara.
“The guys that were supposed to be driving the bus for us as far as the offence did that. The guys who were supposed to be very strong defensively did just that and our goaltender did everything he was supposed to.”
STATS PACK
IceDogs 3 67’s 2
Niagara IceDogs: Kevin He (1); Mike Levin (1); Andrei Loshko (1).
Ottawa 67’s: Luca Pinelli (1); Chris Barlas (1).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Niagara on Collin MacKenzie (31), by Ottawa on Owen Flores (50); Power plays: Niagara 3/4, Ottawa 0/4; Penalty minutes: Niagara 17, Ottawa 15.
Next up: The IceDogs head to Kingston Sunday at 2 p.m.
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