IceDogs come home empty-handed
On Friday it was the Mississauga Steelheads’ turn to feast on home cooking.
And as was the case with the Niagara IceDogs the night before in St. Catharines, the Steelheads followed the same recipe: they came from behind to win the home half of a home-and-home series by a two-goal margin.
In the case of the Fish, two goals from Owen Tippett, one each from Cole Carter and Michael Little were more than enough for a 4-2 victory.
As was the case Thursday night at Meridian Centre, where the IceDogs prevailed 3-1, all of the winning team’s goals went unanswered.
“I thought we did a lot of good things, it’s just too bad we weren’t able to get the final result we wanted,” head coach Billy Burke said after a loss that
ended a five-game winning streak.
Unlike the Thursday night’s opening game in the home-andhome series, when the IceDogs were outshot 14-7 on their home ice, they set the pace from the outset when action in the Central Division rivalry shifted to Mississauga.
They outshot their hosts 13-7 and took a 1-0 lead into the second period on Philip Tomasino’s power-play goal.
Niagara was also playing man up when Liam Ham found the back of the net to increase the team’s lead to two.
After that, it was all Mississauga on the scoreboard.
“We had a good start,” Burke said. “To have a lead after one and to be tied after two, you’re always in a good spot when you give yourself a change like that in the third.”
He said a couple of injuries and
two players battling sickness caught up with the team.
“We ran out of a little bit of gas in the third period, which is too bad, but I certainly thought long stretches we handled the play, out-chanced them.
Burke said the IceDogs need to be better capitalizing on their scoring chances.
“That way we can put teams away and not let them hang around to come back.”
Next weekend Niagara is scheduled to play a home-andhome against the North Bay Battalion, also on consecutive nights.
In the Ontario Hockey League, back-to-back home-and-homes don’t pop up in the 68-game regular-season schedule all that often.
“It’s obviously rare, it’s not something you see every week, but I just think you spend a little bit more time focusing in on the other team’s special teams and their tendencies.
“You spend a little bit more time pre-scouting in the regular season, it’s very much like a playoff feel.”
Friday night’s game was the fourth in head-to-head play in the QEW rivalry and each team has two wins.
With the victory, second-place Mississauga improved to 9-5-2-0 and moved two points behind Central Division-leading Niagara, 10-5-2-0, with a game in hand.
“When you get two good teams, it’s hard to go in and beat them back-to-back.”
Niagara opened regular-season series with the Battalion with a 6-1 victory Sept. 29 at Meridian Centre.
North Bay entered a Sunday game against the 9-6-1-0 Sudbury Wolves with an 8-7-0-1 record.