NET WORTH GIVES 67’S REASON FOR OPTIMISM
Injury to Steelheads’ No. 1 goalie changes dynamic of series, writes Mike Koreen.
If there’s one area where the Ottawa 67’s might have the edge in their playoff series against the Mississauga Steelheads, it would have to be at the most pivotal position.
With Steelheads goalie Matthew Mancina out with a lowerbody injury, the goaltending matchup seemingly pits highly regarded Steelheads rookie Jacob Ingham against thirdyear 67’s Leo Lazarev. And while Ingham put up strong numbers this season and certainly has the chance to be a top Ontario Hockey League goaltender down the road, rare is the rookie goaltender who leads a major junior team on a deep playoff run.
On Sunday, Lazarev was perfect and Ingham had one bad stretch at the Hershey Centre. That proved to be the difference in the game — a 4-0 win for seventh-seeded Ottawa — and the reason the teams are tied at 1-1 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final heading into Game 3 on Tuesday night at TD Place.
Ingham, assuming Mancina can’t play on Tuesday, will be in the spotlight. He was 17-6-3-3 with a .907 save percentage in the regular season, better numbers than Lazarev. But the playoffs are a different beast, and it very well could be up to Ingham to rise to the challenge.
“As a coach, your confidence in your players can never waver,” Steelheads coach James Richmond said. “You can say a player had a bad game … but their body of work gives you the confidence in them to come back in. Watty’s (Spencer Watson) not scoring, Tippy’s (Owen Tippett) not scoring, but I still have confidence those guys can score. They gotta get going.”
It makes complete sense for Richmond to limit the focus on Ingham, who has more than enough on his plate. The first 67’s goal on Sunday — by Travis Barron — came from the side of the net and deflected in off his pad. Ottawa went up 2-0 on a juicy rebound deposited by Sasha Chmelevski. Both were power play goals, but both were plays Ingham likely wanted back.
As for Mancina, Richmond is not about to put a timeline on his return.
“I’m being told he’s day-today,” Richmond said Sunday. “I hope it’s tomorrow, but I don’t think it’s going to be. We’ve just got to keep our fingers crossed and see how he responds to treatment and all that stuff. When they tell me he’s healthy, he’ll be in.”
Of course, there is no reason for the Steelheads to panic. A No. 7 seed hasn’t knocked out a No. 2 seed in the East since the Sudbury Wolves swept Ottawa back in 2011. Since then, two No. 7-No. 2 series have gone to seven games, including last year when the underdog Steelheads extended the Barrie Colts to the limit.
“We spoke before the playoffs started about how there are going to be ups and downs … You’re not going to win four straight every series,” Richmond said. “It doesn’t happen very often anymore in today’s game. We knew we were going to be in a tough battle. Their goal was to come here and split and they did and now our goal is to go back there and split.”
The 67’s, meanwhile, must prove they’re something better than an inconsistent club. They’ve shown an ability to compete well against the top teams in the East, but they’ve also let down at key times — such as a 3-1 loss at home to the Hamilton Bulldogs in the season finale that cost them the No. 6 seed.
“We would have liked to get the first win, but going home with a split isn’t bad either,” 67’s winger Tye Felhaber said. “Like coach (Jeff Brown) said, it’s now a bestof-five series and we’ve got home ice for it.”
Their goal was to come here and split and they did and now our goal is to go back there and split.