Generals Spoil Storm Opener with 3-0 Win
September 25, 2015 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Guelph Storm News Release
The Oshawa Generals didn't do any harm in proving why they are the defending Memorial Cup Champions.
The visiting Generals spoiled the Guelph Storm's home opener Friday night at the Sleeman Centre, blanking the home team 3-0 in what was a matchup of the Ontario Hockey League's past two champions.
It was the first game and the official kick-off of the Storm's 25th anniversary season.
Oshawa used three power play goals on five opportunities to defeat Guelph, who struggled to create any threats on offence all game.
The Generals' Jeremy Brodeur stopped all 23 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season, while Kenny Huether, Lukas Lofquist, and Owen McDade provided goal support.
Justin Nichols stopped 26 of 29 shots in the loss for the Storm.
Things were fairly even for both sides in the first period.
The opening 20 minutes were scoreless, with tight-checking defence and both teams giving up few scoring chances. Each team fired off six shots apiece as fans would have to wait until at least the second period to see the season's first goal.
That first goal, however, belonged to the Generals.
On a power play, Matt Mistele found Huether in the slot, who fired off a quick shot that beat a screened Nichols five-hole.
The Generals added a second goal 5:04 later on another power play. Lofquist scored his first OHL goal when Anthony Cirelli poked a loose puck at the side of the net to a wide open Lofquist.
It was just Oshawa's third man-advantage of the night, but taking penalties against the Generals was proving to be costly for the Storm.
Guelph headed to the second intermission down 2-0 while being outshot 19-17.
In the final frame, the Generals back-end kept up the strong defensive play that helped them to a national championship last season.
The Storm were unable to create any scoring threats, and when they did manage to get shots through, Brodeur was there to turn them aside.
With Nichols pulled in favour of an extra attacker, Guelph started to put the pressure on Oshawa in hopes of cutting into the lead.
But with just 1:03 remaining in the game, Matthew Hotchkiss was called for a delay of game penalty.
On the ensuing power play, McDade added an insurance marker for the visitors to give us our final score, 3-0.
Oshawa finished the contest 3-for-5 on the power play while Guelph went 0-for-3.
Final shots in the game were 29-23 for Oshawa.
With the loss, the Storm start the 2015-16 season 0-1-0-0. The Generals improve to 1-0-0-0.
Guelph is back in action tomorrow night when they head north to Owen Sound for a 7:30 PM matchup against the Attack.
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