OHL Oshawa Generals

Gens Beat 1st Place 67's

November 12, 2011 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Oshawa Generals News Release


Oshawa, Ontario - November 12th, 2011 - Oshawa played a tight game against first place division rival, Ottawa, Saturday night in front of a crowd of 3788. The Generals played three solid periods prevailing 6-3 before an ecstatic crowd at the Generals Motors Centre. Nicklas Jensen and Andy Andreoff had three point nights. Jensen was named first star in the win.

Sometimes, good teams make their own luck, and in the first period, that's exactly what the Generals did. For the first 10 minutes of the frame, Oshawa didn't allow any Ottawa shots on goal making life very comfortable for starting goaltender, Kevin Bailie.

At the other end, the Gens pounded the puck behind Ottawa's defence, cycled the puck and created scoring opportunities. Oshawa was rewarded at 4:42 when Nicklas Jensen centred the puck from behind the net looking for Lucas Lessio in the slot. Fortunately, the puck was re-directed off an Ottawa player's skate and in. Jensen was credited with the goal, and it was a break that Oshawa definitely earned.

The line of Lessio, Jensen and Andy Andreoff looked lethal all period: Jensen was robbed on a snap shot in all alone, and Andreoff powered down the left side and unleashed a blistering shot that 67's goaltender, Petr Mrazek just barely turned aside with his blocker.

At 16:01, Tyler Toffoli took the air out of a nearly perfect period by beating Bailie short-side: the shot was fired through a screen and sailed over Bailie's right shoulder. After 1, the score was tied, 1-1, with Oshawa outshooting Ottawa 11-10.

In the second period, Oshawa's power play was dominant. The Generals started the middle frame with the man advantage, immediately gained the zone and got traffic to the front of the net. Lucas Lessio set up shop and helped a Kyle Hope point shot into the net with just 25 seconds gone on the clock.

The Generals repeated their power play success at 8:45 when Andreoff received a pass from Jensen and beat Mrazek from in tight. Jensen worked the puck effectively from the corners into the slot throughout the middle twenty generating a multitude of dangerous scoring chances.

Oshawa's lead was increased to 4-1 when Emerson Clark scored his 6th of the season, a beautiful forehand-to-backhand goal after he stripped the last defender of the puck.

The Generals appeared to be free and clear, but Ottawa's potent offence crept them back into the game. First, Steven Janes one-touched a perfect pass from Toffoli to cut the lead to 2. Then, Toffoli scored his second of the night, a goal that had to be reviewed because Colin Suellentrop came close to sweeping the puck out of the net with his stick. With two periods in the books, Oshawa had a 4-3 lead and a 25-16 shot advantage. Daniel Maggio and Sebastian Uvira were towers of strength throwing their weight around to perfection in the middle frame, and Oshawa looked to carry this grit into the third.

Oshawa's third period was defined by their penalty kill. Down a man, Suellentrop absolutely annihilated his man on the half boards. This gave the Generals the spark that they needed, and at 5:54, Scott Sabourin struck short handed: Sabourin deked right and then left before shelving the puck behind Mrazek.

Scott Laughton played an impassioned third period and was snake bitten on a glorious opportunity when Mrazek went coast to coast to rob the Generals forward. Andreoff was a one man wrecking crew in the final minutes, and at 17:37, he threaded a pass to Jensen who put the icing on the cake by beating the 67's goaltender and securing the win.

Oshawa outshot Ottawa 37-29 in the contest.

Oshawa is right back at it tomorrow night, they take on the Belleville Bulls on home ice at the General Motors Centre. Start time is 6:05 PM.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 12, 2011


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