IceDogs slam door on Erie Otters
Philip Tomasino helps IceDogs beat Erie on the road with three-point night
This time, the bus trip back into Canada didn’t feel quite as long for the Niagara IceDogs.
It was a lot more enjoyable, too. Earning two points on the road against the Erie Otters will do that to an Ontario Hockey
League team.
“It already feels much lighter sitting up here,” head coach Billy Burke said moments after his team’s 6-3 victory Saturday night.
“It’s a tough building to play in, this Erie team is underrated in their team speed and their team work ethic.
“They have a real strong commitment to blocking shots, which can be frustrated but I thought the guys handled it well.”
A month ago, the IceDogs dropped a 4-3 decision after falling behind 4-0 in their first game in northwestern Pennsylvania this season.
On Saturday, Niagara took a 2-0 lead on goals from Drew Hunter and Bradey Johnson into the third period despite trailing 21-14 on the shot clock.
“I thought the guys were fo-
cused, right from the time that we met as a group before we left St. Catharines,” Burke said. “I thought our older guys did a great job of being leaders and setting a strong professional tone, and everyone followed through.
“I thought our first two periods was about as clean of a road game as you can get.”
Philip Tomasino put the ’Dogs up by three goals before Kyle Maksimovich scored on the power play to thwart Stephen Dhillon’s shutout bid with 8:17 remaining in regulation.
Things got interesting after Tomasino netted his second of the night. Erie goals from Gera Poddubnyi, on the power play; and Brendan Hoffman in less than a minute made it a one-goal game.
Instead of letting the Otters keep their momentum, Ben
Jones and Matthew Philip scored empty-net goals 26 seconds apart to put the game out of reach.
“They made a little push at the
‘‘
“I thought our first two periods was about as clean of a road game as you can get.”
BILLY BURKE
Niagara IceDogs head coach
end, but we were able to dig in our heels and say, ‘No more,’” the coach said. “They were pretty fired up when they made it 4-3, so it was important that we were able to focus and get on the same page the last two minutes.”
Burke singled out Philip’s contribution to the team’s second win in a row.
“I just can’t say enough about a guy like Matthew Philip,” Burke said. “He just does all the right things, and there he is, blocking a shot, creating a turnover and scoring the final nail in the coffin.”
Tomasino scored two goals and assisted on Jones’ empty-netter to extend his point streak to five games.
“I should just set a recording, let you listen to it every game,”
Burke said with a laugh when asked about the sophomore forward.
“He’s just continuing to get better every game, his confidence is growing, his decision-making is growing, his play away from the puck has been rock solid.
“He’s ahead of plays, he’s not chasing anything. He’s controlling the game and, boy, does he ever look like the guy we thought he would be at 18 or 19, but he’s going it right now at 17.”
Tomasino has helped the IceDogs fill a void when leading scorer Akil Thomas went down with an injury.
“I am incredibly impressed with these last couple of weeks that he has put together,” Burke said.
“With Akil going down, he has stepped up huge.”
Niagara visits the Oshawa Generals on Sunday night to wrap up a three-games-in-four-nights stretch with a Sunday night road game against
’Dog Biscuits: Goaltender Colton Incze was a healthy scratch and defenceman Daniel Bukac was out of the Niagara lineup with an upper-body injury … IceDogs forward Ivan Lodnia collected an assist against his former team, while the player he was traded for, St. Catharines native Danial Singer, had three shots on net but did not figure in any of the goals … Niagara Falls native Kurtis Henry has three goals and two assists in 21 games patrolling the blue-line for Erie … More local content: Former Pelham Panthers and St. Catharines Falcons head coach Wes Wolfe, also from The Falls, is in his third season as an assistant coach with the Otters.