Tough weekend for IceDogs
Three games in less than 72 hours proved to be too much for the Niagara IceDogs.
The undermanned IceDogs dropped a pair of road games over the weekend, 6-4 at Ottawa Saturday and 10-0 at Kingston Friday.
The losses wrapped up a tough week for the IceDogs who also dropped a 5-2 decision at home to the Brantford Bulldogs Thursday and have lost six of their last seven games.
“As far as Friday night goes, everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong and it happened early and often,” IceDogs head coach Ben Boudreau said. “Our team, I wouldn’t say gave up, but it was a hungry Kingston team that wanted it more than us and it showed on the scoreboard.”
The Frontenacs jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one period and extended the margin to 8-0 after two.
Kingston peppered Niagara goaltender Charlie Robertson with 52 shots while the IceDogs managed a mere 13 versus Kyle Downey, who earned the easy shutout.
Less than 24 hours later the IceDogs turned in a much more respectable effort in Ottawa.
Already shorthanded with Michael Levin away with Team Israel at the 2024 IIHF Hockey U20 World Championship Division III, Group A, in Bulgaria and the injured Michael Podolioukh, defenceman Andrew Wycisk and Owen Flores, the IceDogs also played without centre Alex Assadourian who was suspended indefinitely after making a gesture from the penalty box the previous night.
“We tried to find a way to bounce back,” Boudreau said. “Losing Assadourian, that kind of hurt, but we had a great response as a team taking a 3-2 lead against a very good Ottawa team after the first. At the end of the game they just found a way to make more plays that us.
“A very good response, just not enough in there at the end of a three-in-three on the road.”
Captain Gavin Bryant paced Niagara with two goals and as assist while Callum Cheynowski scored his first goal for the IceDogs after being acquired from the Bulldogs. Evan Klein also scored for Niagara.
Robertson was solid once again in goal with 43 saves. The recent addition from North Bay faced a whopping 144 shots in the last three games.
“Charlie Robertson was playing three games in two-and-half days and did everything he possibly could for us, but we came up short,” Boudreau said.
Robertson was forced to play all three games with Flores sidelined and only junior C call up Tyson Gutsaw available as back up.
The IceDogs, 12-27-5-1, remain last overall in the OHL with 30 points and trail the Peterborough Peters by seven points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Niagara plays host to Sudbury (25-14-3-2) Thursday.
Ice cubes: Levin is slated to return Thursday after leading Israel to a gold medal with nine goals and 17 points in four games.
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 5,700 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
