IceDogs bottle up Battalion
The Niagara IceDogs kicked off what they hope to be an extended playoff run with a solid effort Thursday night at home.
The IceDogs dominated the North Bay Battalion 2-0 in Game 1 of their Ontario Hockey Leagues Eastern Conference best-of-seven quarter-final playoff series.
The IceDogs outshot the Battalion 52-23, had a significant edge in territorial play, and could have easily had at least a half-dozen goals.
IceDogs head coach Billy Burke was thrilled with the buy-in from his charges at both ends of the rink.
“For a while now we’ve been saying those are the type of games you’re going to have to play in the playoffs,” Burke said. “If we come across a high scoring one, great. We aren’t expecting them so we need to be able to play strong defence and go from there.
“It’s a big focus on our team, something we want to hang our hat on, to be stingy to play against, and if we can grind things down, that can open up things offensively.”
IceDogs centre Jack Studnicka, who had a solid two-way game and also scored, said the IceDogs take pride in keeping the puck out of the net.
“In playoffs this year, obviously we have high-end skill on our team so we have that mentally,” he said. “If we take care of the defensive zone, our skill is going to take over in the O (offensive zone) and that’s what we did tonight.”
Burke said playing good two-way hockey comes down to hard work and a willingness to play that style of hockey.
“It’s tough to sometimes getting some of these guys to buy-in all the time but there’s great buy-in from our guys,” he said. “It’s really the leadership from the older guys.
“It just can’t be 100 per cent offence.”
Niagara dominated the opening period outshooting North Bay 16-5 and scoring the lone goal when Studnicka beat Christian Propp on a tip-in from the slot.
The IceDogs continued to dominate in the second but weren’t able to add to their lead until late in the period when Jason Robertson hoisted a backhand into the roof of the net. The IceDogs held a 37-13 lead in shots after 40 minutes.
Burke said it was tough to feel comfortable with the Battalion only one shot away from getting back into the game.
“A two-goal game, all they need is one and then it’s a goalie-out scramble,” Burke said. “We all know how quickly two goals can go away in this league.”
The IceDogs did a particularly effective job of shutting down North Bay’s top unit of Justin Brazeau, Brad Chenier and Matthew Struthers.
“We really trusted that any of the three lines would be able to do a job,” Burke said. “That was a big focus of our week, how dangerous that line was. You have to play them hard and physical and for that shift, you’re not taking too many chances.”
Ice cubes: Kirill Maksimov, Kyen Sopa, Jonah DiSimone and Christian Sbaraglia did not dress for the IceDogs . . . Kurtis Evans and Luke Burghardt were scratched for the Battalion . . . The press room was overflowing with NHL scouts, many to be rumoured to be checking out Brazeau. The big forward led the league with 61 goals in the regular season and is undrafted.
IceDogs 2 Battalion 0
BPSN Star of the Game: Niagara centre Jack Studnicka with a goal and solid two-way effort.
Niagara IceDogs: Studnicka, Jason Robertson.
North Bay Battalion: No scoring.
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Niagara on Christian Propp (23), by North Bay on Stephen Dhillon (52); Power plays: Niagara 1-for-5, North Bay 0-for-1; Penalty minutes: Niagara 4, North Bay 12.
Attendance: 5,300 (sell out)
Up next: Game 2 Saturday in St. Catharines at 7 p.m. The series shifts to North Bay for Games 3 and 4 next Tuesday and Thursday.
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