Majors' Streak Halted by Battalion

October 10, 2011 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


Nothing lasts forever - not even the winning streak of the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors.

The Brampton Battalion scored four goals in under 15 minutes in the third period to rally past the Majors 5-1 in Ontario Hockey League play Thanksgiving Day Monday before 1,583 fans at the Powerade Centre, ending Mississauga's seven-game winning streak to start the season.

Dylan Blujus scored a pair and Brett Mackie, Patrik Machac and Barclay Goodrow tallied the other goals for the Battalion while Riley Brace replied for the short-handed Majors, who were without Joseph Cramarossa, Jordan Mayer, Stuart Percy and Ryan Duhaime, all of whom missed the game with injuries, as well as Jamie Wise who served the third game of an eight game suspension.

"We're not going to make any excuses, even though there were a lot of guys out of the lineup," General Manager/Coach James Boyd said. "I thought for the first time this season we maybe had some guys who weren't ready to play tonight.

"We were sloppy at the tail end of the second period and into the third and it really cost us. Give Brampton a lot of credit, they were really good and took advantage of their chances, but we made it difficult for JP (Anderson) today."

Brampton out-shot the Majors 43-31 and despite the valient efforts of JP Anderson in goal, Mississauga finally dropped its first regular season game.

"Both goalies were outstanding and we were in the game for two periods," Boyd added. "But we just didn't keep up in the third period and Brampton capitalized on their chances. You know you're not going to win every game but it's disappointing as, like I said, maybe for the first time this season we weren't quite ready for that third period."

The Majors opened the scoring on a power play just three seconds before the first period ended. Riley Brace slipped a rebound past Matej Machovsky for the first period's only goal while the Majors had a 5-on-3 advantage, Brace's ninth goal of the season, with Dylan DeMelo picking up the assist.

The Battalion answered back in the second period when Blujus fired a shot from the point past Anderson just seconds after a Majors penalty had expired to tie the game 1-1 at 8:37.

That was all the scoring until third period, when the Battalion gained control with four unanswered goals, taking their first lead of the game at 1:50. Mackie's wraparound shot somehow slipped under Anderson off a scramble in front, giving Brampton a 2-1 lead.

The Battalion picked up some insurance at 7:43 when Machac converted a big rebound from the slot on a Brampton powerplay to put up the home side up by two, as the Battlaion (4-2-0-0) won for the first time in three home games after going 3-0 on the road to start the season.

Brampton then added another goal on a nice individual effort from Goodrow who split the Majors defence and went in and lifted a shot over Anderson's shoulder to make it 4-1. And four minutes after that, Blujus added his second of the game to complete the scoring.

The Majors are in Erie to take on the Otters Wednesday night before returning home to face the Oshawa Generals on Friday at 7:35 p.m. at the Hershey Centre. You can get Majors tickets online at www.ticketmaster.ca, or at the Hersehy Centre box office during business hours. Visit www.stmichaelsmajors.com for season ticket and special group rates.



Ontario Hockey League Stories from October 10, 2011


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