As the OHL regular season winds down, the Ottawa 67’s picked up another home win against the Oshawa Generals in a 6-1 victory on Wednesday at TD Place, continuing their push toward the playoffs.
“We played really good and showed why we’re third in the league,” said Ottawa forward Filip Ekberg.
Brock Chitaroni opened the scoring minutes into the first period, setting the tone for the 67’s.
The 67’s controlled the shot count throughout the game, generating strong offensive pressure. Five minutes in, the Generals recorded their first shot on goal, with Luke Posthumus besting 67’s goaltender Ryder Fetterolf to tie the game 1-1.
“The first one snuck behind me, so I knew I needed to stop everything else for us tonight,” Fetterolf said.
The 67’s remained in the Generals’ zone, maintaining sustained offensive pressure for the rest of the period.
In “the offensive zone we really dominated, and the defensive zone, too, we played really well,” 67s centre Nic Whitehead said.
With five minutes left in the first period, the Generals took the game’s first penalty.
On the ensuing power play, the 67’s capitalized to regain the lead, as Whitehead found the back of the net to make it 2-1 heading into the intermission.
The 67’s held onto that lead the rest of the way.
“If you get up on the first period on a team, you gotta find a way to continue to go on the second and third period,” said assistant coach Norm Milley.
Heading into the second period, the 67’s continued to build their shot total, applying pressure that held the Generals without a shot for the first 12 minutes.
“I couldn’t even believe it, I’ve never seen a shot clock look like that,” David Bedkowski said, as the 67s led 31-2 in shots during the second.
Teddy Spitznagel dumped the puck down the ice, setting up Spencer Bowes, who found the back of the net to make it 3-1 at the end of the second period.
After a strong offensive showing through two periods, the 67’s entered the third with a commanding lead in shots and confidence in their defensive play.
The pressure continued in the third, as Whiteman carried his strong game forward. On a 2-on-1 with Nic Sima, Sima finished the play to extend the lead to 4-1.
With 10 minutes remaining, the 67’s maintained their pressure, and Ekberg added to the scoring to put the game out of reach.
After starting the game with a black stick, Ekberg switched on the advice of teammate Cooper Foster and went on to score twice, helping secure the 67’s 6-1 win.
“I used the black stick for the first two periods, but I couldn’t shoot, I just missed everything … Coop told me to change to the white stick, and it worked,” Ekberg stated.
The 67’s limited Oshawa to just 10 shots in the win.
“It’s tough to get ten shots in the game ‘cause it’s hard to stay in the game,” Fetterolf said. “I definitely like high volume when I’m more challenged, but I take every game.”
As the regular season wraps up on Monday, the 67’s are heading into their final two games with the playoffs in sight.
“You can’t teach experience, so it’s on us older guys … to lead the way,” Bedkowski said of the upcoming playoffs.
“Once the puck drops for the playoffs, it’s a completely different game.”
The 67’s return to the road to face the Generals in Oshawa, closing out the regular season with a 7:05 p.m. puck drop at the Tribute Communities Centre.
Featured image by Tim Austen/Ottawa 67’s
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