Kitsyn Stars in Majors Debut

January 7, 2011 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


Sault Ste. Marie, ON Maxim Kitsyn did his best to endear himself to his teammate as he had a goal and an assist tonight in his Majors debut to help Mississauga to a 3-1 win over Sault Ste. Marie. The Majors dominated the play in tonight s game, keeping pressure on the Greyhound all night and outshooting them, 35-16.

It looked as though both teams were ready for a rough game early as Joe Cramarossa dropped the gloves with Carson Dubchak just two minutes into the game. Then it was Alex Cord and Chad Thibodeau s turn to fight at 10:29. However, with the fights out of the way, the Majors dominated the pace of play and kept the pressure on throughout the first period. While Greyhounds goaltender Matt Murray was stellar turning aside the first 17 shots of the period he couldn t hold the Majors off the board. On the 18th shot of the period, Maxim Kitsyn went top shelf to record his first goal in the OHL in his Mississauga debut. Jordan Mayer and Justin Shugg recorded assists on the goal.

Both teams would find a little more offence in the second period. Devante Smith-Pelly put the Majors ahead 2-0 at 5:27 of the second period. Smith-Pelly s 22nd goal of the season was assisted by Marc Cantin and Dylan DeMelo. At 6:50, Vern Cooper gave the 4733 fans at the Essar Centre a reason to cheer as he netted his 11th of the season to cut the Majors lead to 2-1. Jake Carrick had the only assist on Cooper s goal. Kitsyn looked like an offensive threat all night for the Majors and recorded his second point of the night at 10:21 of the second period when he assisted on Jordan Mayer s 12th goal of the season to make it 3-1 Mississauga. DeMelo had the second assist on Mayer s goal. After two periods, shots were 29-11 Mississauga.

Kitsyn was still threatening in the third as he hit a crossbar early in the third period, almost registering his second goal of the night. Captain Casey Cizikas would not allow himself to be held off the scoresheet in his first night back in a Majors uniform after his silver medal performance with Team Canada. Cizikas scored a powerplay goal while Daniel Catenacci served a double minor after a high stick on Derek Schoenmakers. Mayer and DeMelo had the assists on the Cizikas goal. It was DeMelo s third assist of the night and Mayer s third point. The Greyhounds would not concede defeat as they pulled goaltender Matt Murray with 43 seconds left, leading to a Rob Flick empty net goal at 19:43, making the final 5-1.

JP Anderson was solid in net when he needed to be, making 15 saves on 16 shots. Murray looked strong in the Greyhounds net with 30 saves on 34 shots and the rookie goaltender was awarded with the third star of the game. Jordan Mayer was the second star and in his OHL debut, Maxim Kitsyn was named first star of the game.

The Majors will now travel to Sudbury to face the Wolves and close out their weekend. The team will then head to Brampton next Thursday to face their Peel Region rivals at 7:00 PM before returning home to face the Belleville Bulls Friday night at the Hershey Centre. Visit the Hershey Centre box office or call 905-502-7788 x. 1 for tickets. Don t forget that the OHL trade deadline is this Monday so stay tuned to stmichaelsmajors.com to see if the Majors make any moves.



Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 7, 2011


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