Miletic’s debut stellar
You couldn’t have scripted a better debut.
Two days after arriving in St. Catharines, Sam Miletic made 4,278 fans go home happy with an absolutely stellar debut for the Niagara IceDogs Thursday night at Meridian Centre.
Miletic scored once, set up two other goals, then scored a shootout goal for the highlight reels as the IceDogs battled back from a 4-2, third-period deficit to the outlast the Erie Otters 5-4 in a shootout.
“That shootout goal was amazing,” IceDogs head coach Billy Burke said. “It could be one of the nicest one’s I’ve ever seen.
“He was outstanding. He was everything we hoped he would be. When you bring in a star player like that, that’s what he does. He’s dangerous every time he gets the puck, but aside from the offence his defence, his care level, I thought he was a great leader for us tonight. When things weren’t going well I could lean on him.
“He’s a great example for all the young guys to say, ‘Look how hard this guy works, look what this guy does, look how he’s thinking.’
“He’s a great asset for us, and I’m
glad he’s with us.”
Miletic, who entered the game fourth in OHL scoring, now has 57 points in just 36 games.
“It was a good game, especially in the third,” said the 20-year old Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native who signed an NHL entry level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins back in September.
“I like the way we came back, and the boys (teammates) have been awesome. They’ve been really welcoming — I couldn’t have asked for much more.”
Miletic was placed on a line at left wing with Akil Thomas at centre and Danial Singer on the right. The trio combined for six points and a plus-9 rating on the night.
“They’re good players,” said a smiling Miletic. “They got me a couple of assists tonight — they’re really good players, and it was fun to play with them.
“If we keep talking out there, and keep working with each other, I think we’ll be pretty good.”
Singer, a St. Catharines native, scored his 20th goal of the season in the victory.
However, despite the win Burke was extremely honest about his team’s effort over the first two periods.
“I’m obviously thrilled with the way we came back to get the two points, but I wasn’t thrilled with the way we did it,” Burke said.
“I thought we were outplayed for two periods. I thought we had way too casual of an attitude, there was very low compete (level) but we bounced back and were able to dig our heels in and find a way to come back.”
The Niagara win now sets up a firstplace Central Division showdown with the Barrie Colts tonight at Meridian Centre.
“We have to make sure to take their time and space away,” said Burke.
“They’re a dangerous, explosive, offensive team so we have to make sure we don’t give up the odd-man rushed we did early tonight.”
Dog Biscuits: Kirill Maksimov (suspension) Oliver Castleman (flu) and Willy Lochead (injured) were scratched for Niagara … IceDogs Akil Thomas and Jonathan Schaefer both played in their 100th career OHL games. ’Dogs assistant coach Kris Sparre missed the game due to the flu … Niagara forward Kyle Langdon received a five-minute major for charging and a game-misconduct in the second period … Niagara Falls native and Otters defenceman Kurtis Henry was presented with the municipality award by Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati before the game … The IceDogs welcome and honour visiting players who hail from Niagara region.