OHL Oshawa Generals

Generals Drop Final Away Game

Published on March 15, 2014 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Oshawa Generals News Release


Thursday night marked the last road game of the 2013-14 regular season for the Oshawa Generals, they travelled to North Bay to face the Battalion.  Oshawa came into Thursday's game with back-to-back losses at the hands of Belleville and Kingston, both on the road. Despite the losses, the Generals are still guaranteed first place in the Eastern Conference and will have home ice for the duration of the playoffs.  North Bay came into the game needing points to clinch their division and secure the second overall place in the Eastern Conference.  The Battalion lead the Sudbury Wolves by one point for the division lead, both teams had played 65 games prior to Thursday night.  

The Generals decided to rest their veteran players for the Thursday night game, placing forward Scott Laughton, defenseman Josh Brown and Colin Suellentrop and goalie Daniel Altshuller in the press box instead of the ice.  The Generals called up defenseman Stephen Templeton, who was drafted in last April's OHL Draft and played this season with the Milton Icehawks, to make his OHL debut. 

The Generals and Battalion exchanged chances early on but both Kenny Appleby and Jake Smith turned aside early chances to preserve the scoreless game.  A Generals PowerPlay at 15:43 offered them a chance to take the lead late in the period. However, the Battalion broke the scoring as Barclay Goodrow stripped the puck from Michael Dal Colle and broke in to score his sixth shorthanded goal of the season.  The two teams both fired 10 shots during the first twenty minutes as North Bay took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

The Battalion Captain, Goodrow, would put his team ahead by two goals just over five minutes into the second period after he received a saucer pass in the slot from Ben Thomson.  Just under three minutes later the Battalion took a commanding 3-0 lead over the Generals, as Zach Bratina got his stick on the puck as it dropped to the ice just before the goal line after a Brett McKenzie shot. The Generals were awarded with three PowerPlays in the period, but the came up short on their attempts and headed into the intermission down 3-0.

The third period did not feature much offense for either club as Oshawa mustered only five shots in the final period while the Battalion fired eight towards Appleby.  The Generals were outshot by the Battalion 31-20 over the course of the game. 

Oshawa will return home tomorrow night and face the Belleville Bulls at 7:35 PM before hosting the Sudbury Wolves on Sunday night to close out the regular season at 6:05 PM.

It is still unclear who the Generals will play in the first round of the playoffs as only two points separate the final four teams fighting for the seventh and eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.  The four teams are Niagara, Mississauga, Ottawa and Belleville; all the teams have two games remaining.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 15, 2014


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