OHL Kingston Frontenacs

Single Point Earned in 2-1 Overtime Loss to Hamilton

Published on February 23, 2018 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kingston Frontenacs News Release


It was easily the biggest game of the regular season for the Kingston Frontenacs as the division leading Hamilton Bulldogs were in town on Friday night. It was the final meeting of the season between the two division rivals and with only four points separating the two teams in the race for the East division title, it was the last chance to make up points without help from another team. Unfortunately for Kingston, they would have to do it with some big names out of the line-up. Cliff Pu, Sean Day, Max Jones and Mitchell Byrne were all scratched due to injury, along with Sam Field who has been out for an extended period. The season series between the two squads was just as close as the standings. Hamilton had a slight edge winning three of the five previous head to heads.

The game got off to a furious start when Ryan Cranford and Riley Stillman dropped the gloves just 0:16 into the game. After an evenly matched bout, both players headed to the box to serve their major penalties. The rest of the period wasn't nearly as exciting. At the midway point of the period the shot clock read 2-1 for Hamilton. Eventually the Bulldogs did get a puck by Jeremy Helvig, but after video review it was called back because of the play being offside on zone entry. Kingston went to the room looking for a spark, as they had recorded just five shots in the period. Luckily, they were still tied 0-0.

The second period saw more action than the first. Kingston opened the scoring with a blast from the point by Eemeli Rasanen, his first goal since the sixth game of the season. Kingston had taken the lead despite being heavily outshot. That didn't last long, however. Matthew Strome took a pass from Robert Thomas and made a sweet move between his legs and slid the puck by Helvig to tie the game 1-1. Hamilton was dominating on the shot clock after the second period, but Helvig was keeping them from dominating on the scoreboard. The game was tied 1-1 after forty minutes.

Both teams continued to struggle to generate offense in the third period. With so many regulars out of the Kingston line-up, it was obvious that certain line combinations were lacking chemistry. Hamilton continued to win on the shot clock, but not capitalize on their chances. Near the end of the period, Ted Nichol took a check from behind penalty that put Hamilton on the power play. The game remained tied after three periods and the two teams headed to overtime.

Hamilton used the extra space on the power play to move the puck around and got a lucky bounce off a defender. Brandon Saigeon tried to pass the puck across the crease and it bounced in off a Kingston defender for the overtime winner. Hamilton took the 2-1 decision.

The Frontenacs will now have a long break without a game. They aren't back in game action until next Friday night when the London Knights visit the Rogers K-Rock Centre. Puck drop for that game is at 7 PM.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 23, 2018


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