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Niagara IceDogs

Knights Top IceDogs

January 8, 2010 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Niagara IceDogs News Release


The Niagara IceDogs lost in a tough 6-3 battle to the London Knights at the John Labatt Centre Friday night.

The first period was scoreless until Knights forward Nazem Kadri took a tripping penalty at the 18:53 mark, allowing Niagara's Reggie Traccitto to score his second power play goal in as many games. The goal was Traccitto's 11th of the season (9th on the power play), putting him first in goals among OHL defensemen.

The IceDogs has a 1-0 advantage going into the first intermission.

In the second period, London would tally the first marker as Knights captain Justin Taylor notched his team-leading 23rd goal of the season on the power play to tie the game at 1.

The Knights followed up soon after as rookie defenseman Reid McNeill scored his first OHL goal. McNeill cracked the London line-up this year coming straight out of high school hockey, and has 4 points with a +7 rating on the season.

The IceDogs would tie the game up with 4:33 to go in the second as Marco Insam carried the puck up the right wing and put one in short-side on goalie Michael Houser. Andrew Shaw and Dylan MacEachern picked up assists on the play, and the game tied 2-2 after 40 minutes.

Justin Taylor gave London the early third period edge as he went roof-daddy on Mark Visentin to notch his second power play goal of the game, giving the Knights a 3-2 lead.

Matt Baldassarra tried to stir things up by going toe-to-toe with heavyweight Zac Rinaldo shortly after Taylor's goal, but after the tilt Niagara took two quick penalties giving London a 5-on-3 advantage.

Knights defender Steven Tarasuk capitalized on the power play recording his 11th of the season to tie Reggie Traccitto for the most goals among defensemen, giving the game a 4-2 score.

London continued their relentless effort as Colin Martin scored a shorthanded wrap-around goal to give the team a comfortable 5-3 lead midway through the third.

The IceDogs cut the Knights lead to 5-4 at the 17:02 mark when Dylan MacEachern converted on the power play with help from Traccitto and Shaw. All three players recorded their second point of the game on the play.

Niagara pulled Visentin late in the period with hopes of tying the game, but Justin Taylor slipped one into the empty net to record the hat-trick and give the game a final score of 6-3 in favour of the Knights.

Johnson Andrews dropped the gloves at the end of the period with Pieter Schinkelshoek in a spirited tilly to conclude the game.

The IceDogs next two games will be a home-and-home series against the Western Conference's third place Kitchener Rangers. The first game will take place on Sunday in Kitchener, with the puck drop set for 6:00 p.m.

The IceDogs will then take a turn playing host to the Rangers on Thursday, January 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Gatorade Garden City Complex. Tickets for this and all other IceDogs home games are available for purchase at any of the IceDogs ticketing locations.

Check out the Niagara IceDogs Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 8, 2010


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