Petes pound on IceDogs
Oliver Castleman scored a goal to extend his points streak to eight games Tuesday as the Niagara IceDogs dropped a 7-3 decision to the Peterborough Petes. Photo by: OHL IMAGES.
It has been a tough season in goal for the Niagara IceDogs.
Christian Sbaraglia began the year as the No. 1 netminder, only to get suspended for five games early on. That opened the door for rookie phenom Tucker Tynan, who quickly established himself as a legitimate Ontario Hockey League backstop, only to suffer a serious leg injury Dec. 12 versus the London Knights.
The starting job then shifted back to Sbaraglia, who was slated to start Tuesday night versus the Peterborough Petes, but was injured in the pre-game warmup which pressed Josh Rosenzweig into action.
Rosenzweig, who had been toiling in Welland at the junior B level, made his first OHL start, but things quickly turned sour.
The Petes pounced on the IceDogs for six goals in the first period en route to a 7-3 victory before a sell-out crowd of 5,471 fans at the Meridian Centre.
“It’s not ideal. The plan wasn’t for Josh to start this one,” IceDogs coach Billy Burke said. “We did way too much puck watching and too much swinging and not enough pride in D zone.
“When you try to cheat for offence, it’s never going to work. It starts in the D zone and if you’re cheating and swinging, you’re never going to get the puck back against a team like Peterborough and it was 6-0 before you know it.”
Rosenzweig permitted the six goals on 16 shots, but his level of play had little to do with the final outcome.
“It’s unfortunate, but I can’t blame Rosenzweig for this one,” Burke said. “We always try to take care of defence and be a defence-first team so it should really be no different no matter who’s in net.
“It was a young guy, a 16-year-old making his first start and it’s sold out against one of the top teams in the country. He settled in great and thought he did a great job the rest of the way.”
Burke indicated the injury to Sbaraglia was minor and isn’t considered to be serious.
The IceDogs turned in a much better effort in the second period and scored the lone goal when Jonah De Simone netted his sixth of the season. Ivan Lodnia appeared to bring the IceDogs to within three at 6-3, but his goal was overturned on a video replay when the play was ruled offside.
“They (second and third periods) were much better,” Burke said. “I think it was them sitting back a bit and us getting upset with each other and realizing we’re hurting our teammates when we leave them out to dry in certain situations,” Burke said.
Burke said such efforts can crop up from time to time with rebuilding teams.
“We need to carve out an identity,” he said. “It comes and goes but it needs to be every night for us, every weekend and that’s how we’re going to get success.”
The IceDogs have a busy schedule coming up beginning Thursday in North Bay. Niagara sits in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 31 points, seven up on Kingston and 13 up on the Battalion.
“It’s jammed up schedule for us. It’s important we take what we can to get better and recognize our mistakes because it’s a huge game for us going to North Bay,” Burke said. “We have to go up with the attitude that we are going up to beat North Bay.”
IceDogs winger Oliver Castleman extended his points streak to eight games with his 14th goal in the first period.
Ice cubes: Akil Thomas (Canada), Kyen Sopa (Switzerland), Tucker Tynan (leg), Elijah Roberts and Jackson Doherty did not dress for the IceDogs . . . Nick Robertson (Team USA), Michael Simpson, Hudson Wilson, Josh Kavanaugh, Liam Kirk and Cole Patey were scratched for the Petes . . . The Petes feature seven NHL draft choices.
Petes 7 IceDogs 3
BPSN Star of the Game: Peterborough forward Mason McTavish with three goals and two assists.
Niagara IceDogs: Oliver Castleman (14); Jake Uberti (8); Jonah DeSimone (6).
Peterborough Petes: McTavish 23 (22, 23, 24); Zach Gallant 2 (19, 20); Declan Chisholm (8); J.R. Avon (2).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Niagara on Tye Austin (25), by Peterborough on Josh Rosenzweig (35); Power plays: Niagara 1-for-7, Peterborough 1-for-1; Penalty minutes: Niagara 4, Peterborough 13.
Attendance: 5,471 (sell out).
Up next: At North Bay Thursday. Home to Kitchener Saturday at 7 p.m. At Hamilton Sunday at 2 p.m.
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