Tomasino leads the attack
Philip Tomasino picked up three points Thursday to lead the Niagara IceDogs past the Owen Sound Attack. File photo: OHL IMAGES.
Philip Tomasino has found some instant chemistry with Jason Robertson and Akil Thomas.
The sophomore winger picked up two goals and an assist Thursday to lead the Niagara IceDogs past the Owen Sound Attack 6-1 in Ontario Hockey League action in St. Catharines.
“Those guys are two of the best guys in the league, for sure,” said Tomasino, who has 10 goals and 21 points in 25 games following a slow start. “I’m excited to play with them and trying to take as much advantage of the opportunity, for sure.”
Tomasino, Robertson (1-3) and Thomas (1-3) combined for 11 scoring points.
Robertson, picked up last week from Kingston, extended his points streak to 11 games, second longest in the league behind Owen Sound’s Kevin Hancock at 12.
“Obviously, it’s not that hard playing with those guys,” Tomasino added. “They find lanes and give me the puck.”
Tomasino and Thomas have played together in the past and the addition of Robertson has given the duo a legitimate sniper on the right side.
“Robertson is one of the best goal scorers in the league,” Tomasino said. “I’m looking forward to playing with them a long time into the future.”
IceDogs head coach Billy Burke loves Tomasino’s game.
“When Akil got hurt and Tomasino got the expanded role, it really opened our eyes to what he could do,” Burke said. “We realized we can win with Tomasino in our top six.
“We gave him a challenge and he keeps stepping up and knocking it out of the park. He does things 19-year-olds in this league can’t do.”
With so much depth up front, Burke wasn’t concerned about putting all his eggs in one basket.
“I almost think we didn’t load up a line,” he said. “With the injuries that we’ve had, we had to change things up but the guys have responded.”
The IceDogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with a pair of goals in the first five minutes. Niagara held a significant edge in play outshooting Owen Sound 15-4.
Niagara padded their lead to 3-0 when Tomasino scored halfway through the second. That put an end to the night of Owen Sound starting goaltender Mack Guzda, who was pulled in favour of Andrew MacLean.
Owen Sound took over for a good portion of third and finally got on the board when Zachary Roberts scored to cut Niagara’s lead to 3-1. Less than five minutes later Tomasino netted his second to restore the IceDogs’ three-goal lead. Niagara then added a pair of late goals with the man advantage as the Attack became unglued in the final minutes.
“When they made it 3-1 there was still 10 minutes to go and that’s a lot of time in this league,” Burke said. “Good on the guys for keeping their composure and drawing some penalties. When they lost their cool we put it out of reach.”
The IceDogs improved to 14-7-4 win the win while the Attack fell to 14-11-1-2.
Ice cubes: Ivan Lodnia, Mason Howard and Colton Incze were scratched for the IceDogs . . . Sean Durzi (Toronto) and Manuel Alberg did not play for the Attack . . . Fort Erie’s Daylon Groulx came into the game with nine goals and 21 points in 27 games . . . The IceDogs entered the game with the No. 9 ranked power play at 20.8 per cent and the 18th ranked penalty kill at 74.9 per cent.
IceDogs 6 Attack 1
BPSN Star of the Game: IceDogs forward Philip Tomasino with three points.
For the Niagara IceDogs: Tomasino 2 (9, 10); Jason Robertson (25); Akil Thomas (10); Elijah Roberts (2); Johnathon Schaefer (2).
For the Owen Sound Attack: Zachary Roberts (3).
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Niagara on Mack Guzda/Andrew MacLean (44), by Owen Sound on Stephen Dhillon (37); Power plays: Niagara 2-for-8, Owen Sound 0-for-3; Penalty minutes: Niagara 10, Owen Sound 20.
Attendance: 4,674.
Up next: At Kitchener Friday and Hamilton Sunday afternoon.
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