67’s Fight Back and Win in Belleville
By: Barre Campbell – Ottawa67s.com Staff
Photo: Robert Lefebvre – Icelevel Photograph
The 67’s, desperate to retain home-ice advantage in the opening round of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs, needed a comeback effort Saturday night in Belleville to solidy the team’s chances of finishing in the top four of the Eastern Conference.
They were down 2-0 early but got back into the game and Jeremiah Addison scored the eventual winning goal early in the third to give the 67’s a 3-2 victory in the team’s final game ever in Belleville (the Bulls are moving to Hamilton next season).
The win, Ottawa’s second straight after breaking a four-game slump with a huge 2-1 win on Friday against Oshawa, lifted the 67’s into a tie with the North Bay Battalion for third in the conference, making Thursday’s game in North Bay between the clubs extremely important. The Battalion, which lost 6-0 on Saturday in Kingston (the Frontenacs have won six straight) play on Sunday in Belleville and could return home for that Thursday game needing a win just to remain in third.
The victory also kept the 67’s five points ahead of the fifth-place Niagara IceDogs, which posted a 4-3 win over Sudbury in St. Catharines.
Ottawa defenceman Alex Lintuniemi scored the first 67’s goal on Saturday during a two-man power play late in the second, then Brendan Bell scored moments later as the Bulls tried to kill the second penalty in the final minute of the second.
After the game in North Bay, the 67’s will return to Ottawa and host the Peterborough Petes at TD Place on Friday, March 20 (7:30 p.m. face-off), before completing the regular season against the Sudbury Wolves on Sunday, March 22 (2 p.m. face-off) at TD Place.
Tickets are available by calling 613-232-6767, or by visiting the team’s website
