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Maxwell Lifts Majors

February 24, 2012 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


Mark Visentin is having a tremendous season for the Niagara IceDogs, but it was Brandon Maxwell who stole the show Friday night at the Hershey Centre.

Maxwell made 43 saves and Sergey Kuptsov scored the game-winning goal with 7:46 to play as the Majors rallied past the IceDogs 3-2, picking up a crucial two points in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.

Trevor Carrick and Justin Rasmussen scored the other goals for the Majors, who were out-shot 45-22, including 18-5 in the final period. But Maxwell was brilliant, allowing only goals to Brett Ritchie and Milan Doudera, to help keep the Majors in sixth place in the East.

"Maxwell was just outstanding tonight and we hung in there all night against a very tough team," Mississauga General Manager/Coach James Boyd said. "We stayed disciplined and didn't take any penalties and that kept us in the game.

"He (Maxwell) made a lot of great saves and gave us a chance to win especially in the second period, and we took advantage of our opportunities and that is a very big two points for us with the standings as tight as they are."

Mississauga (59), Oshawa (58), Peterborough (57) and Belleville (57) is the standings tally after Friday night's play, with Oshawa losing in overtime in Plymouth, the Petes losing in Kitchener and the Bulls winning in Brampton.

Ritchie opened the scoring for the Dogs at 17:41 of the opening period, giving Niagara a 1-0 lead after one period. Rasmussen tied the game for the Majors at 4:43 of the second, but Doudera restored Niagara's lead at 11:09 of the second period to put Niagara up 2-1 after 40 minutes.

Despite being out-shot in the third period 18-5, it was the Majors who scored the period's only two goals. Carrick tied the game on a power play goal at 2:12 before Kuptsov tallied the game winner at 12:14.

Visentin was pulled in favor of an extra attacker but the Dogs couldn't get the equalizer, with Maxwell holding the fort.

Majors forward Spenser Cobbold was delighted with his team's win.

"This is the biggest win of the year for us," Cobbold told Rogers TV. "After we got beat 11-0 in Niagara recently, we have to feel a lot better tonight.

"They say a hot goalie wins games, and Maxwell has certainly been really hot for us."

The Majors took just one penalty in the game, going 1-for-2 on the power play, while the IceDogs number one ranked power play failed to score in their one chance. There were just six minutes in penalties called in the game.

"We did a good job staying out of the penalty box against a team with the best power play in the league," Boyd added. "I liked our resiliency all night and there were a lot of positives to be gained from a win like that."

The Majors are in Barrie Saturday night and host the Erie Otters Sunday at 2 p.m. in their next game at the Hershey Centre. You can purchase tickets for Majors home games at www.ticketmaster.ca or at the Majors box office during regular business hours.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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