Ottawa earns 4-3 win over Mississauga

October 28, 2011 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


The showdown battle for first place in the Eastern Conference came down to just a single shot on Friday night.

Sean Monahan scored the lone goal of the shootout as the Ottawa 67's took over first place in the East with a tight 4-3 win over the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors in Ottawa, moving a point ahead of the Majors with the victory.

Ottawa improved to 10-3-1-0 with the win for 21 points, one more than the Majors (9-3-0-2) as the teams hooked up in an entertaining battle that went back and forth all night until the Majors finally succumbed in the shootout.

"I thought we were right where we wanted to be after two periods, especially in this building playing against a tough team," Mississauga General Manager/Head Coach James Boyd said. "When we went up 3-2 early in the third we looked to be in good shape.

"But after they got their third goal it was a different game. They seemed to pick up momentum and carried the play to us after that. I thought JP was terrific in goal and that was the biggest reason we got the one point."

Tyler Toffoli scored twice and Sean Monahan added the other goal for the 67's before 5,671 fans in the Nation's Capital.

Derek Schoenmakers, Dylan DeMelo and Jamie Wise scored the Majors goals while Riley Brace added three assists.

"We just couldn't seem to hit the net in the shootout and it cost us the extra point," Boyd added. "We did manage to stay out of the penalty box and play a pretty disciplined game against a good team and we were right there with one of the league's better teams once again."

The Majors opened the scoring at 4:04 into the first period on a goal by DeMelo to take the early lead, but the 67's answered back with two goals of their own before the first period ended.

Toffoli notched his first of the night at 11:33 and Monahan also scored his 12th of the season with just 45 seconds left in the opening period to give Ottawa a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.

The Majors power play then went to work as Schoenmakers tallied his seventh of the season on a Mississauga power play at 9:34 of the second period, the only goal of the middle frame, leaving the teams tied 2-2 after two.

Wise, playing his first game after serving an eight-game suspension, then added a power play goal of his own at 2:29 of the third period to give the Majors the lead back. But Toffoli's second goal of the game and 13th of the season at 8:40 of the third period set the stage for overtime.

The 67's out-shot the Majors 43-26, including 18-5 in the third period. Anderson made 40 saves in goal for Mississauga while Petr Mrazek stopped 23 shots for Ottawa.

The Majors were 2-for-4 on the power play while the 67's failed to connect in their three chances.

Mississauga is off until Thursday when they make the short trip to Brampton to take on the Battalion at 7 p.m. The Majors host the Peterborough Petes Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Hershey Centre, with tickets available at www.ticketmaster.ca and at the Hershey Centre box office during regular business hours.



Ontario Hockey League Stories from October 28, 2011


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