Tough road trip for IceDogs
Niagara IceDogs goaltender Owen Flores made 47 saves in a 2-1 loss at Sault Ste. Marie Saturday. Photo: OHL IMAGES.
Not even a super human effort from Owen Flores was enough to get the Niagara IceDogs into the win column Saturday.
The veteran goaltender kicked out 47 shots, including 18 in the first period, as the IceDogs dropped a 2-1 decision to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
“I thought Owen Flores was unbelievable. That was the best game he played as a Niagara IceDog by far,” IceDogs coach Ben Boudreau said. “We would have had no business being in that game if it wasn’t for him. For him to give us a chance to win all the way to the end was incredible.”
The loss concluded a tough road trip for Niagara which also lost 12-1 at North Bay Thursday and 6-1 at Sudbury Friday.
Bryce McConnell-Barker gave the Greyhounds a 1-0 lead early in the first period before Kevin He scored a short-handed goal less than two minutes later to even the score. He leads the team with 26 goals and 44 points and is on pace for 35 goals in his draft year.
Jacob Frasca netted the winner just over seven minutes into the second period.
Overall, the Greyhounds outshot the IceDogs by a whopping 49-17 margin.
“We only had 17 shots and Sault Ste. Marie is an unbelievably good hockey team that is in a different position than we are,” Boudreau said. “They’re trying to win a championship and we’re a young team that had seven 16-year-olds in the lineup. I thought the way we competed just to have a chance to win at the end was one of the big takeaways. We didn’t give up and if we did, it could have got pretty disgusting.
“Proud of the guys for giving everything they had because they did. We’ll go home and lick our wounds and try and be better for next weekend.”
He also scored the lone goal in the loss in Sudbury while Rafek Dianov, with assists from Eric He and Darcy Dewachter, accounted for the goal in North Bay.
Dianov, Eric He and Dewachter were all signed to Ontario Hockey League contracts earlier in the week to prop up the roster which has been ravaged by injuries.
The IceDogs were without Mike Levin, Callum Cheynowski, Andrew Vermeulen, Andrew Wycisk and Michael Podolioukh. Boudreau is hopeful Levin (upper body) and Cheynowski (ill) will be available this week.
The IceDogs are last in the OHL overall standings with a 14-30-6-1 record and sit 10 points behind the Barrie Colts for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Colts also own two games in hand.
The IceDogs are at Erie Wednesday, home to Oshawa Friday and Brantford Sunday and then in Oshawa for a Family Day matinee next Monday.
“We have a giant week ahead,” Boudreau said. “We can’t give up. We have one choice and that’s to put one foot in front of the other and we’ll see what we end up having.”
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