IceDogs off to 3-0 start
For only the second time in their history, the Niagara IceDogs are perfect after three games.
The IceDogs ran their record to 3-0 with a 5-3 win over the Oshawa Generals in Ontario Hockey League action Friday in Oshawa.
All three of Niagara’s wins have come on the road. The IceDogs host the Brampton Steelheads Sunday at 2 p.m. in their regular season home opener.
“We’ve played as a group now for three straight games and we’ve seen the same result,” IceDogs coach Ben Boudreau said. “It’s starting to inspire some belief that if we can be consistent, we might have something here.”
The IceDogs got off to a slow start in the first period, but were bailed out by another strong performance from goaltender Owen Flores.
“To be honest with you, we were overpowered and overrun through the first 17 minutes,” Boudreau said. “We didn’t have a shot through the first 11 or 12 minutes of the game and we were really just hanging on with a good performance from (Owen) Flores.”
Down 2-0 near the end of the first, Sean Doherty scored his first as an IceDog, which Boudreau pointed to as the turning point.
“Our fourth line was the one to turn it around for us. Sean Doherty scored a goal on an assist from Max Crete and that really turned the momentum around for us,” Boudreau said. “From that moment on we held Oshawa, a really good hockey club, to just 11 shots through the rest of the game for 43 minutes.
“We completely flipped the script after that goal. It was a change of pace and we put them on their heels and we had a lot of extended zone time and the third line with all the young kids took over.”
Braidy Wassilyn tied the game with his first OHL goal at 11:25 of the second, then netted his second less than two minutes later to give Niagara a 3-2 lead. Ryan Roobroeck put the IceDogs up 4-2 with a power-play goal late in the period.
Roobroeck added his second of the game in the third as the teams traded goals.
“(Ethan) Czata, Wassilyn and Roobroeck were the big game changers for us,” Boudreau said. “We just found a way to get it done tonight and the contribution was from our younger group. Collectively as a group, it was an unbelievable defensive effort.”
Boudreau is eager for the home opener.
“Sunday is going to be great,” he said. “Winning three games on the road, I think there has to be a belief that we can beat anybody. We all know how good Brampton is —they have yet to lose a game — so playing Sunday in front of our home crowd, hopefully the energy is going to be able to match here and we’ll give them something to be excited about.”
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