Generals push ’ Dogs to the edge
Loss at home against Oshawa means they need three straight wins to survive
Niagara may well have seen the last of the IceDogs for this season.
Despite a furious and exciting third period rally, the IceDogs dropped a 7- 4 decision to the Oshawa Generals Th ursday night at the Meridian Centre and now face a huge uphill battle.
Oshawa leads the Ontario Hockey League best- of- seven Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series 3- 1 and was in a position to advance to the Eastern Conference fi nals with a win at home Friday night.
Results of last night’s game were unavailable at press time, but a summary is posted online at www. wellandtribune. ca.
Game 6, if necessary, is Sunday at 2 p. m. in St. Catharines.
IceDogs captain Carter Verhaeghe, who may have played his last game in Niagara, cued the comeback with a pair of third period goals.
“Real bad,” he said, when asked how much he wanted to play at least one more game in Niagara.
“This wasn’t an easy game tonight. We didn’t come out that that hard in the first two periods and obviously got behind.
“We have to give it our all tomorrow ( Friday). That’s all we can do and hopefully force another game here.”
The IceDogs nearly pulled off a stunning comeback in the third.
Trailing 4- 0, Niagara scored three quick goals, including a pair just 15 seconds apart, to pull to within 4- 3 with still half a period to play.
“We got some energy and started playing our game,” Verhaeghe said. “We got some pucks in deep and didn’t turn the puck over. We got that energy and just kept on rolling.”
Niagara interim coach Dave Bell admitted it’s big trouble to fall behind by four goals against an elite team like the Generals.
“We spent a lot of gas to get it back to 4- 3, which is tough,” he said.
“We’ve put up some big numbers in that period this year, so we knew we had the capability and we challenged them to try to put up a big number and do it the right way.”
Bell said the IceDogs got overanxious, which cost them big time as the Gens capitalized on some sloppy defensive play to score a pair of quick goals and knock the wind out of Niagara’s comeback hopes.
“We got a little too pushy and too excited and too antsy,” he said. “We tried to force it too much, and that’s a recipe for odd- man rushes. And that’s what happened.”
The IceDogs now face the huge challenge of having to win three in a row, but Bell said that’s the last thing they are going to focus on.
“When you are in this situation, you can use a hundred cliches,” he said. “You don’t look past tomorrow because there isn’t a tomorrow. We’re just going to go and get as prepared as we can to have good first period.
“The fourth one is the hardest to win, so we’re going to go in there with a focused effort to try to see if we can extend this and bring it back here.”
Hunter Smith opened the scoring with five minutes remaining in the first when he knocked home a rebound while the Generals enjoyed a man advantage. Oshawa added a late goal when Michael McCarron scored off a wild scramble with 51 seconds remaining. Niagara had 15 shots on goal and a couple of point- blank opportunities to score but couldn’t.
Oshawa scored just 20 seconds into the second when Cole Cassels netted his second of the playoffs. Three minutes later, Michael Dal Colle, who was dominant with two goals and three assists, added to Oshawa’s lead as the Gens took a 4- 0 advantage into the third period.
Notes: Stephen Dhillon, Jack Wieringa, Matt Gillard, Zach Wilkie, Jonathon Schaefer and Kyle Langdon did not dress for the IceDogs … Sonny Hertzberg, Stephen Robertson, Stephen Templeton, Sam Harding and Daniel Robertson were scratched for the Gens … The Welland Tigers bantam A provincial champions were honoured before the game … Former IceDogs broadcaster Chuck Lafleur helped out on the Oshawa online broadcast … IceDogs 2014 draft picks Bray Crowder and Mitchell Crevatin were in attendance.