Friday Highlights: Bears gain ground with third straight win

 

OWEN SOUND 6 – GUELPH 4
Rookie defenceman Igor Chibrikov’s (1) first career OHL goal stood as the game winner as the Owen Sound Attack took a much-needed 6-4 win in Guelph. The Storm battled back from a 4-1 deficit with three in the third to tie things at four before Chibrikov’s point wrister put Owen Sound in the lead for good. The back-and-forth affair saw draft eligible forward Aidan Dudas (22, 23) score twice for the Attack while Maksim Sushko (23) had a goal and two assists. Nick Suzuki (25) and Kevin Hancock (15) scored additional goals as the Bears climbed into seventh place, one point back of the sixth place Storm. Owen Sound outshot Guelph 42-29, defeating the Storm for the second time in six tries this season. Mark Woolley (2), Liam Hawel (8), Isaac Ratcliffe (28) and Alexey Toropchenko (9) provided Guelph goals as the Storm dropped their second straight. Attack veteran Ethan Szypula played in his 300th career OHL regular season game.
GAME CENTRE

 

FLINT 3 – SARNIA 2 – OT
Ty Dellandrea set up Maurizio Colella (17) just 23 seconds into overtime as the Flint Firebirds earned their third straight win in a 3-2 triumph over the visiting Sarnia Sting. Flint’s third win of the season over the CHL’s fourth-ranked Sting saw Dellandrea (21) tie the score at two with 3:01 left in the third period. Connor Roberts (14) also scored for the fourth time in five games while Luke Cavallin made 23 saves in the win. The Firebirds outshot the Sting 34-25 to improve to 16-29-3-1. Sarnia loses for just the second time in the past 12 games, getting goals from Jonathan Ang (19) and Anthony Salinitri (21) while Aidan Hughes made 31 saves in goal. Jordan Kyrou saw his 11-game point streak come to an end as the Sting fell to 35-12-4-0.
GAME CENTRE

 

SAULT STE. MARIE 4 – SAGINAW 3 – OT
The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds squandered a 3-0 lead in the third period as the Saginaw Spirit clawed back to knot the score at three before Morgan Frost (30) salvaged the effort for the Hounds in a 4-3 overtime victory. The home ice win saw Frost score 3:06 into the extra frame on an assist from Barrett Hayton. The OHL’s leading scorer with 84 points, Frost finished the night with a goal and an assist while other markers came from Hayden Verbeek (18), Noah Carroll (4) and Taylor Raddysh (23). Tim Gettinger had two assists and goaltender Matthew Villalta made 27 saves as the Greyhounds were outshot 30-23. Saginaw managed to go 2-for-5 on the power play with man advantage goals coming from Caleb Everett (5) and Damien Giroux (16). Max Grondin (9) also scored for Saginaw while goaltender Cameron Lamour stopped 13 of 14 in relief of Evan Cormier. The Greyhounds earn their fifth straight win, improving to 42-5-2-1 while Saginaw drops a third straight decision, falling to 24-19-6-0.
GAME CENTRE

 

KITCHENER 4 – HAMILTON 3
OHL Goaltender of the Month Mario Culina was sharp, making 42 saves to backstop the Kitchener Rangers past the Hamilton Bulldogs on home ice by a score of 4-3. Ottawa Senators prospect Logan Brown assisted on every Rangers goal, giving him four helpers on the night as markers came from Kole Sherwood (21), Logan Stanley (13), Joseph Garreffa (8) and Austin McEneny (5). McEneny’s game winner came with 6:13 left in the third period as the Rangers skated to their seventh straight win, improving to 34-14-2-0. The Bulldogs were hungry, outshooting Kitchener 45-30 as veteran forward Brandon Saigeon (28, 29, 30) accounted for all three Hamilton goals in the loss while Marian Studenic picked up two assists. The Eastern Conference-leading Bulldogs drop to 32-12-3-3 on the year.
GAME CENTRE

 

NORTH BAY 5 – MISSISSAUGA 3
After falling behind 3-0 in the first period, the North Bay Battalion charged back with five unanswered to give coach and GM Stan Butler a joyous birthday celebration at the Hershey Centre. The Troops had two goals from Matthew Struthers (13, 14) while Jake Henderson (8), Luke Burghardt (23) and Brandon Coe (7) also tallied. Big winger Justin Brazeau, who was also celebrating his birthday, picked up two assists as did centreman Kyle Potts. Christian Propp turned aside 33 saves on the night as the Battalion won for the eighth time in the past 10 games, improving to 23-21-5-1 for fifth in the conference. Cole Carter (13, 14) scored twice of the Steelheads while Ryan McLeod (18) also lit the lamp as Mississauga saw a five-game winning streak come to an end. Steelheads forward Mathieu Foget saw his 11-game point streak come to an end. The Trout have a five-point edge on the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with an 18-25-3-3 record.
GAME CENTRE

 

OTTAWA 6 – NIAGARA 5
The Ottawa 67’s survived a Niagara IceDogs comeback attempt, holding on to score a 6-5 home ice win fuelled by a pair of goals from Tye Felhaber (17, 18). The 67’s collect at least a point in a fifth straight game as Mitchell Hoelscher (4), Nikita Okhotyuk (5), Sasha Chmelevski (23) and Shaw Boomhower (9) all found the back of the net. Boomhower’s shorthanded goal 1:26 into the third period stood as the game winner before the IceDogs closed the gap to one, unable to beat the final buzzer. Elijah Roberts (7), Billy Constantinou (3), Johnny Corneil (15), Akil Thomas (14) and Sam Miletic (25) all scored for Niagara in the one-goal loss as the IceDogs fell to 26-15-4-3. The 67’s hold down the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference amongst a logjam including Oshawa and Mississauga separated by just two points.
GAME CENTRE

 

BARRIE 8 – LONDON 4
The London Knights rallied from a 4-1 deficit to make things interesting early in the third period, but the visiting Barrie Colts would pull away late in an 8-4 win as veteran forward Zach Magwood (20, 21) led the way with two goals and two assists. Rookie forward Ryan Suzuki (10, 11) scored twice in the win while Aaron Luchuk (38), Andrei Svechnikov (24), Ben Hawerchuk (10) and Dmitry Sokolov (29) provided singles as the Colts outshot the Knights 36-21. Barrie pulls back into a first place tie atop the Central Division with the Niagara IceDogs as forward Jaden Peca finished the night with three assists while Lucas Chiodo picked up two. Draft eligible blueliner Evan Bouchard (17, 18) starred for the Knights in the loss with two goals and an assist. Jacob Golden (1) and Alex Formenton (16) also scored for London as the Knights dropped to 26-19-2-2 on the campaign. The Knights hold down fourth place in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Saginaw Spirit.
GAME CENTRE

 

KINGSTON 7 – OSHAWA 1
The Kingston Frontenacs filled the net on Friday, getting a goal and three assists from Brett Neumann (15) in their fourth straight win. The Fronts overwhelmed the visiting Oshawa Generals 7-1, climbing ahead 4-0 in the opening five minutes of action. Defenceman Mitchell Byrne (1) scored his first as a Frontenac while Liam Murray (1) and Justin Pringle (1) also found their first goals of the season. Other goals came from Jason Robertson (32), Matt Hotchkiss (13) and Linus Nyman (25). Gabriel Vilardi collected three assists on the night while defenceman Conor Ali picked up two. The Fronts outshot Oshawa 42-22 and improved to 26-16-4-3, 11 points back of first place Hamilton in the East Division. The Generals drop to 23-23-3-0, one point up on seventh place Ottawa.
GAME CENTRE

 

ERIE 4 – SUDBURY 2
Anand Oberoi put forth another strong start, leading the Erie Otters to a 5-3 win in Sudbury with 33 saves on the night. Oberoi’s second road win in as many days came with offensive backing on a pair of goals from former Wolf Troy Lajeunesse (8, 9) while Christian Girhiny (10) and Stephane Patry (3) also capitalized. Defenceman Owen Headrick had a pair of assists for Erie as the Otters won despite being outshot 35-30. Anthony Tabak (6) and Cole Candella (4) had Sudbury goals as the Wolves suffered their fifth straight loss. Erie improves to 15-26-6-3, 10 points back of Owen Sound for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
GAME CENTRE