OHL Oshawa Generals

Gens Topple First Place 67s

November 25, 2011 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Oshawa Generals News Release


Ottawa, Ont - The Generals won a nail-biter in the nation's capital Friday night. Oshawa captured two important points beating first place East Division rival Ottawa 5-3 before a crowd of 8,252 at the Ottawa Civic Centre. Josh Graves scored the third period winner, and Nicklas Jensen scored his team leading 14th goal in the victory. Peter Hermenegildo assisted on the winning goal in his Oshawa debut.

Neither team was quick out of the blocks in the first period. Both sides battened down the hatches and looked to capitalize on an offensive zone turnover.

Oshawa finally drew first blood at 13:05: Scott Laughton blocked a point shot in the defensive zone resulting in a 2-on-1 the other way. Laughton mailed a pass to Christian Thomas who settled the rolling puck before roofing it behind 67's goaltender, Petr Mrazek, who had no chance on the play.

Oshawa's newest acquisition, defensemen Peter Hermenegildo, was solid in the back end, and the entire Generals defence core did well to silence Ottawa's top guns in the opening twenty.

Ottawa native, Dan Altshuller, got the start in goal for Oshawa and looked sharp early - he made a nice glove save on Shane Prince after a quick 67's faceoff win. Colin Suellentrop laid a devastating hit on Prince late in the frame, and after 1, the Generals led 1-0.

The 67's wasted no time evening the score in the second period. Sean Monahan beat Altshuller 33 seconds into the frame assisted by red hot teammates Tyler Toffoli and Shane Prince.

The Generals almost responded on a nice three way passing play completed by Nicklas Jensen. Jensen pelted Mrazek with a shot from the left side and caught the 67's goaltender thinking pass. Mrazek made the save, but he was so off-balance that he almost fell into the net with the puck.

Daniel Maggio knocked on the door firing a point shot that Mrazek managed to stop with an extended left pad. Jensen broke the deadlock when he wheeled out from behind the net, spun around and whipped home his 14th of the season, a trick shot that seemed to dip past the Ottawa goalie.

The lead was short lived. The 67's knotted it back up just over a minute later on a delayed power play. Remy Giftopolous was the extra attacker and tied the game after calling for the puck in the slot. With two periods in the books, the Generals and 67's headed into the third even at 2. It was either team's game to win.

In the third period, the seesaw battle continued. 4-on-4 action gave the 67's the open ice they needed, and Dalton Smith buried a one-timer short side after an end to end rush by Jake Cardwell.

Ottawa's first lead of the game lasted seconds. Maggio answered on the power play placing a perfect shot on goal through traffic that Mrazek never saw. This game was going down to the wire tied 3-3.

That's the way it stayed until 17:10. Oshawa finally took the lead for good when they won an offensive zone faceoff and Hermenegildo fired a solid shot on goal. The puck squeaked through Mrazek and sat on the blue ice before a diving Josh Graves cued home the win.

Boone Jenner added an empty netter for good measure securing a 5-3 victory on the road.

Oshawa outshot Ottawa 36-24 on the night.

Oshawa completes their weekend road swing this Sunday November 27th in Belleville vs. the East Division rival Bulls. The game can be seen live on Rogers TV Durham. Puck drops at 2:00 PM.

Oshawa is back at home next Friday December 2nd when they take on the Sarnia Sting at the General Motors Centre. Start time is 7:35 PM, and it's the 14th annual Teddy Bear Toss. Bring a bear and make a family's Christmas extra special.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 25, 2011


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