’Dogs lack ‘focus’ in loss
Dhillon’s goaltending the lone bright spot
Too bad power play goals, like hydroelectricity, can’t be stored and used when they’re needed to get a team out a funk and into the win column.
Even one of the six power-play markers the Niagara IceDogs scored in just eight attempts in their last game against the Barrie Colts would’ve come in mighty handy in Friday night’s rematch before a sellout crowd at Meridian Centre.
It would have meant the difference between a victory in regulation, and another leg up in the race for the final playoff berth in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, and a 3-2 loss in a shootout.
“Yes, I wish we had a power-play,” said IceDogs head coach Dave Bell, whose team finished 0-for-4 with the man advantage and was outshot 45-33.
Other than the 43-save performance of netminder Stephen Dhillon, who also stopped 10 shots in the 11-round shootout, Bell couldn’t think of any positives to share in his post-game comments.
“From the drop of the puck to the final goal going in I wasn’t happy with the team,” he said.
When pressed to specify what aspects of his team’s play displeased him, he point toward the ice and answered “their play on that side of the boards.”
“When they were not on the bench.”
He said the IceDogs took the ice against a team they had beaten in four straight games lacking focus, a strong start, execution, commitment, as well as discipline.
“I mean we didn’t take penalties, but I mean discipline in the fact of when the right time is to dump the puck, the right time to change and the right time to do whatever.”
Bell said he hoped that last night’s lacklustre was a “one off ” and that the team would ready to host the North Bay Battlion tonight in “the biggest game of the season.”
“We warned them about not looking past that (Barrie) game,” he said. “I don’t even want to say it’s because they’re a young group, because we want had older guys who were just as bad as the young guys.”
Once again, Dhillion was singled out for a standout turn between the pipes for Niagara.
“If he didn’t give us that game, they probably win 5-1, 6-1,” Bell said.
Oliver Castleman stole the puck at centre ice and beat Christian Propp glove side with a back-hand shot to open the scoring for Niagara. The even-strength marker on the breakaway was his 14th of the season.
Goals from Roy Radke, on a wrist shot inside the right faceoff circle, and Jason Willms, glove side on a rebound just outside the crease, put the visitors ahead for the first time in the game.
It was beginning to look like another one of those games, when Johnny Corneil returned the momentum to the IceDogs side of the ice with his team-leading 24th goal of the season.
Dhillon matched Barrie counterpart Christian Propp save-for-save in the shootout until Aidan Brown found the back of the net on a wrist shot that beat Dhillon on his stick side.
An explosion on the IceDogs power play highlighted the last meeting in the Central Division rivalry. Niagara went 6-for-8 with the man advantage in a 10-6 victory Jan. 14 in Barrie.
Despite the loss, Niagara won the season series, four wins to win, eight points to four. Only blemishes on an otherwise clean slate was last night’s setback and a 6-5 overtime loss in the season opener for which the ‘Dogs earned a consolation point.
The Colts, winless in its last nine games, were seeking to end the night in the win column for the first time since defeating the Saginaw Spirit in 5-4 in overtime Jan. 19 in Barrie.
’Dog Biscuits: Singing the national anthem was the choir from E.I. McCulley Public School in St. Catharines ... Kyle Langdon’s seven-game suspension disrupted the flow of the offence, with Bell going with 11 forwards.