IceDogs corral Colts in convincing fashion
Ivan Lodnia collects four points, Andrew MacLean stops 37 shots as Niagara doubles Barrie on the road
Once again, goals were scored in bunches when the Niagara IceDogs resumed their Ontario Hockey League schedule hoping for their first win in more than a month.
For once, the biggest bunch didn’t wind up in the back of the Niagara net.
Unlike their last game, when the IceDogs allowed three answered goals in an overtime loss to Guelph, Niagara took care of the business at hand – remaining in the race for a playoff berth – Thursday night when they doubled the Barrie Colts 6-3 ending a franchise-record 14game losing slide.
The young, rebuilding team’s first win since Jan. 23 was much, much closer than the final score at times. Niagara skated into the third period leading 4-1, but back-to-back goals by the Colts made it a one-goal game.
Neither the IceDogs nor their fans needed to be reminded the team was 12.2 seconds away from winning in regulation when they imploded in a 5-4 overtime loss to Guelph.
But any “oh, no, here we go again” fears were allayed when Jackson Doherty and Jake Uberti scored for Niagara to put the game out of reach.
Andrew MacLean earned secondstar honours with a 37-save percentage in net for Niagara.
“The two points is a big step we needed to take to get ahead of Kingston in the standings,” he said.
MacLean suggested while the IceDogs hadn’t had “the best of luck” of late, it wasn’t due to lack of effort on the part of his teammates.
“All the boys were working together and each and every practice getting better and learning from our mistakes,” he said. “That’s how we came out with the win.”
Barrie started the game outshooting the IceDogs 10-1, but MacLean, who was acquired from the Oshawa Generals before the trade deadline, didn’t let the rain of rubber faze him.
“I just go one shot at a time,” he said. “I made a big save at the beginning of the first period and I couldn’t really think, ‘Oh, I’m going to make another big save.’ I just had to focus on the next shot.”
Head coach Billy Burke said the IceDogs showed “great resilience” when the Colts wanted to shift momentum to their end of the ice.
“We would bend but we wouldn’t break. They scored and we were able to respond,” he said. “We were able to get a lead and hold onto for the rest of the night.
“It’s a great, emotional win, for
sure.”
Niagara went 1-for-4 on the power play and limited Barrie to one goal in six opportunities with a man advantage. And that score was when the IceDogs were killing a 5-on-3 penalty.
“I thought the PK (penalty kill unit) did a great job, the power play got a goal for us,” he said. “A lesser-character team could’ve easily folded the tent and coughed it up again, but the guys dug their heels in.”
On Thursday night, the IceDogs’ biggest cheerleaders were sitting next to them on the bench.
“Guys were fired up. They celebrated a blocked shot and a chip out of our zone like they were celebrating goals,” Burke
“A lesser-character team could’ve easily folded the tent and coughed it up again, but the guys dug their heels in.” BILLY BURKE NIAGARA ICEDOGS HEAD COACH this
said. “We really felt that was a long time coming.
“Everyone said tonight was going to be our night.”
The hosts outshot Niagara 1812 in the first period and went up 1-0 on a goal from Josh Nelson. It was all IceDogs after that with Mason Howard, Cameron Butler and Ivan Lodnia, with 1.8 seconds remaining in the frame, finding the back of the Barrie net.
Adrien Beraldo put the ’Dogs by three with the only goal in a second period in which shots on net were 11-10.
Barrie came into the final game in head-to-head play between the Central Division rivals fifth in the Eastern Conference, 19 points ahead of ninthplace Niagara.
Niagara (18-34-5-1) evened the season series with Barrie at three wins apiece and moved two points ahead of the idle Kingston Frontenacs (18-342-2) in the race for the final playoff spot. Kingston has two games in hand.
’Dog Biscuits:
Matthew Hill, D, Anaheim; Nicholas Porco, LW, Dallas; Arturs Silovs, G, Vancouver; are the NHL prospects in the Colts lineup … The Colts earned a consolation point in a 4-3 loss in a shootout Jan. 17 at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, so it won the season series seven points to six. Bernd.Franke@niagaradailies.com 905-225-1624 | @TribSportsDesk