IceDogs stonewalled
IceDogs outshot, outchanced but, thanks to hot goaltender, can’t outscore Mississauga
The Niagara IceDogs may have lost a lot more than a game Thursday night.
In addition to dropping a 4-1 decision to the visiting Mississauga Steelheads, and the chance to gain ground in the race to make the playoffs, the IceDogs could be playing their final two games of the regular season this weekend without Ryan Mantha.
The team captain and blue-chip blue-liner received a two-game suspension after he was involved in his fourth fight of the Ontario Hockey League season.
Head coach Dave Bell said the IceDogs intend to appeal the suspension on the grounds an altercation between Mantha and Mississauga’s Nicolas Hague midway into the final period should have been stopped by officials on the ice before it escalated into a fight.
Niagara may not receive a ruling from the league until some time Saturday, when it hosts the Sudbury Wolves. Bell credited the opposing goaltender for “stealing a game for his team.”
“That’s probably the first time this year we could say that,” he said. “I thought our Grade A (scoring) chances were in the teens, and usually when some of those guys have pucks in those areas they usually score.
“I tip the cap to that kid (Jacob Ingham), he played really well.”
He said Ingham helped his own cause by making “big, big saves” that caused the IceDogs to become more selective in their shots
“When he makes those saves, you try to make the ‘perfect shot,’ instead of just shooting, and the holes go away.”
Bell said Niagara outshot and outchanced the Steelheads in the opening game of a home-and-home series that wraps up Sunday afternoon in Mississauga.
“I didn’t mind our game outside of the score.”
Niagara had “multiple little plays” on which it had big chances but couldn’t get one past Ingham until the last minute of play in the game when Johnny Corneil finally scored for the IceDogs on a 6-on-3 power play.
“At this point the season, it’s one of those games,” Bell said. “There are things we can take from it, good and bad, but now we shift preparing for Saturday.”
The IceDogs had the Steelheads going against the current outshooting their visitors by a wide margin to start the game.
Niagara’s early dominance on the shot counter wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard, however. Ryan McLeod, just outside of the crease on Stephen Dhillon’s glove side; tapped in an upice pass from a teammate to give Mississauga 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
NiagaraoutshotMississauga19-8in the second period, but again it was the Steelheads, not the IceDogs, finding the back of the net. Michael McLeod, beating Dhillon glove side from just outside of the left faceoff circle after skating down from the blue-line, gave Mississauga a two-goal lead.
That the ’Dogs couldn’t bury the puck in the period was remarkable. Though playing 4-on-4, they peppered Ingham with five shots in a row, as if they were on the power play.
A Ondrej Machala breakaway from the red line likewise had the Meridian Centre sellout crowd of 5,300 holding its breath in anticipation.
Ingham was up to the challenge, much to the chagrin of the host team.
Brendan Harrogate inflated Mississauga’s cushion to three when his point-blank shot along the ice somehow slipped between Dhillon’s pads and over the goal line
Thursday night’s opening game of a season-ending home-and-home series was a possible playoff preview. Niagara, which wraps up league play Sunday afternoon in Mississauga, would face the second-place Steelheads should it finish the regular season seventh in the Eastern Conference. This season the Steelheads have been aptly named as far as the IceDogs and their fans are concerned. They have been “the one that got away,” with victories in the first four games in head-to-head play in 201617.
Niagara earned a consolation point in a 6-5 overtime loss Oct. 21 on the road and a 3-2 setback, also in overtime, Dec. 10 in St. Catharines.
While the North Bay Battalion, one of the three times battling Niagara for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, blanked Sudbury 4-0 Thursday night, the IceDogs still cling to seventh, two points ahead of North Bay and one ahead of Sudbury, which has a game in hand.
The Ottawa 67’s, who did not see action last night, sit sixth in the standings, two points ahead of Niagara.
’Dog Biscuits: Pre-game ceremonies at centre ice included recognition of the Brock University men’s and women’s wrestling teams that recently pinned down national championships, as well as the 100th anniversary of the Rotary Club. Nearly 200 members of the service organization were in attendance and representatives of Rotary clubs in the region conducted the official faceoff.