Majors Keep On Winning With Game One Victory

Published on April 19, 2011 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


Mississauga, ON - The Eastern Conference Championship Series kicked off tonight in Mississauga between two bitter rivals. The Majors successfully defended home ice, and took a 1-0 advantage in the series with a 3-0 victory.

The series could not have started off better for the Majors. On just the second shift of the night, the Majors hottest line of the playoffs began where they left off. Max Kitsyn got the puck alone in front and out waited IceDogs goaltender Mark Visentin. Showing great patience, he slid the puck over to Jordan Mayer who was there to slide in his fourth goal of the playoffs at 0:48 of the first. The game was back and forth as each team showed of their speed and traded chances, but both goalies were playing well. The Majors killed off multiple penalties in the period, while the IceDogs did not take one penalty through the first. Shortly after a penalty to Justin Shugg had expired, the Majors got pressure down low and Casey Cizikas slid a pass behind the net to Devante Smith-Pelley who snapped a quick, bad angle shot that beat Visentin and put the Majors up 2-0 at 14:17. The IceDogs nearly cut the lead in half just before the period ended as Freddie Hamilton got the puck passed J.P. Anderson on a two on one, but hit the post and bounced out. Shots on goal at the end of one were 11-6 in favour of the Majors.

The beginning of the second did not go as smoothly for the Majors. 2:26 into the period Stuart Percy got a holding call in behind the Majors net as he grabbed onto IceDogs captain Andrew Agozino. The Majors did well in killing that off and went right into a powerplay after when Alex Friesen took a slashing penalty, but the IceDogs also killed that penalty off. The Majors fourth line then got the puck deep and proved that the talk about Majors depth this year is very real. Jamie Wise and Derek Schoenmakers battled for the puck behind the net and Wise came out with it and jammed the puck at Visentin. Wise was unsuccessful on the first try, but the second swipe at the puck worked and the Majors had a 3 goal cushion. Right at the end of the period an unlikely fight broke out between offensive star Ryan Strome and the second year defenseman Dylan DeMelo.

The fight didn't seem to bring much life to the IceDogs, and the Majors went into their shutdown style of hockey. Shots on goal in the second were 11-10 Majors.

There was not a lot of scoring chances in the third period, as the period was highlighted by a hip check thrown by Majors defenseman Michael D'Orazio on former Major Tim Billingsley. Outshooting the IceDogs in the final frame 9-7, the Majors held on for the game one victory to remain undefeated in the post season.

JP Anderson recorded yet another shutout with a 23 save performance. Mark Visentin made 28 saves on 31 shots, taking the loss for Niagara. The games three stars were Mayer (3rd), Anderson (2nd) and Wise (1st).

The series continues this Thursday when the Majors travel to Niagara for game two. The series is back at the Hershey Centre on Saturday night for game three and a 7:00 PM puck drop. Tickets are available at the Hershey Centre box office or by visiting ticketmaster.ca.

Individual tickets to the MasterCard Memorial Cup are also now available. 500 red level tickets have been released for each round robin game and the semi final. Visit the Hershey Centre box office or ticketmaster.ca to get your tickets today.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from April 19, 2011


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