Coach K earns first win for IceDogs
The Niagara IceDogs won the battle of the goaltenders Saturday night and in the process gave Ryan Kuwabara his first victory as head coach.
Owen Flores kicked out 43 shots as the IceDogs held off the Mississauga Steelheads 2-1 in Ontario Hockey League action at the Meridian Centre.
The win was Kuwabara’s first after five straight losses since taking over behind the bench for interim coach Jeff Angelidis at the beginning of the month.
“It was a tough road to get there but enjoying it with these guys and the work they put in makes it a little more special for sure,” Kuwabara said. “I’m just so happy for the guys.”
The IceDogs are still last overall in the league with a 7-16-3-1 mark, but are just five points in arrears of the Oshawa Generals for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The IceDogs are also last in goals against, permitting more than five per game and their goal differential (-51) is also a league worst.
Kuwabara is well aware that needs to change.
“That’s been our mantra a little bit. I’ve seen our shots against total go down. That’s something if we can tighten up we’re not going to give up as many chances and I thought that happened tonight,” he said.
Flores, who was acquired from the London Knights for a second-round pick in 2026 and a fifth-round selection in 2024, came into the game with a 4.89 goals-against average and .871 save percentage.
The 18-year-old London native turned in one of his best performances of the year out-duelling Mississauga’s Ryerson Leenders, who also played well.
“That’s all I ask of our goalies to do is give us a chance to win and we’ll take care of the other end,” Kuwabara said. “If you can take care of yours and feel confident when we get in the offensive zone we’re going to have more success.”
Kuwabara feels it takes a group effort to succeed defensively.
“We’re all connected as a unit so we have to play solid together and know what we’re doing and then have the ability to play fast and break out,” he said. “We don’t want to spend time in our own zone.
“You get out fast and you play in the offensive zone, that’s the fun zone where you can have fun some out there and let these guys be creative. I thought tonight if we score on some of those point-blank ones, but Leenders made some great saves.”
Declan Waddick broke a scoreless tie in the second period with his 10th of the season. Flores made that stand up until Mississauga defenceman Dylan Gordon floated a seeing-eye shot in from the point at 11:13 of the third.
Daniel Michaud then netted the winner when he deflected a shot from the post with six minutes to play.
Ice cubes: Evan Klein, Landon Cato and Andrew Wycisk did not dress for the IceDogs . . . Jake Uberti, Chazz Nixon, Alessio Beglieri, Liam Spencer, William Eggleton, Charlie Callaghan, Ethan Del Mastro and Owen Beck were scratched for the Steelheads . . . The Steelheads recently traded former Niagara defenceman Issac Enright to the Guelph Storm for a pair of draft selections . . . Former IceDogs Brice Cooke (3-0-3) and Ryan Struthers (0-1-1) have both struggled offensively with the Steelheads this season . . . Niagara defenceman Rodwin Dionicio is one of three OHL players named to Switzerland’s preliminary roster for the upcoming 2023 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship set to take place in Moncton, NB and Halifax, NS starting Dec. 26. Dionicio was also part of Switzerland’s summer World Juniors squad, appearing in five games.
Owen Flores for Niagara and Ryerson Leenders for Mississauga.
STATS PACK
IceDogs 2 Steelheads 1
Niagara IceDogs: Declan Waddick (10); Daniel Michaud (8).
Mississauga Steelheads: Dylan Gordon (1).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Niagara on Ryerson Leenders (27), by Mississauga on Owen Flores (44); Power plays: Niagara 0/2, Mississauga 0/3; Penalty minutes: Niagara 6, Mississauga 8.
Attendance: 3,718.
Next up: The IceDogs are home to Sudbury Saturday in their final game before the Christmas break.
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