The Ottawa 67’s advanced to the second round of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) playoffs after defeating the Brantford Bulldogs on April 7 in Game 6 to take the series 4-2.
The 67’s now face the Oshawa Generals in the second round, who finished first in the Eastern Conference.
Going into the playoffs, the Bulldogs finished third in the OHL Eastern Conference, while the 67’s placed sixth.
“We got to see [Brantford in the regular season] and we saw that they’re a beatable team, and we have a great group here,” 67’s captain Luca Pinelli said before the series. “We’ve had some bad games, but the playoffs are a new start.”
“Our team has a lot more heart and I think that’s what it’s going to come down to in the playoffs,” Pinelli said. “Whoever wants [to win] the most is who will win the most.”
Game 2 was a different story as the 67’s rebounded to even the series. The game featured 80 penalty minutes, including a fight between Brantford forward and Montreal Canadiens prospect Florian Xhekaj and 67’s defenceman and St. Louis Blues prospect Matthew Mayich. The game ended in a 6-3 win for the 67’s.
Back in Ottawa with the series tied 1-1, the 67’s earned two hard-fought victories to extend their series lead to 3-1 and push the Bulldogs to the brink of elimination.
67’s defenceman Samuel Mayer’s heroic performance highlighted Game 4, as he netted a hat trick while also chipping in an assist on the game-tying goal half way through the third period.
The series went back to Brantford, but Ottawa was unable to close out. The Bulldogs pulled out a 4-2 win in an offensively frustrating game for the 67’s. Mayich received a three-game suspension for what the OHL called an “inappropriate gesture and comment towards a Brantford Bulldogs player.”
With the chance to take the series at home, Ottawa prevailed with a dominant 6-1 win.
“That’s playoffs,” 67’s head coach Dave Cameron said about the momentum changes throughout the series.
“There’s ebbs and flows, like in Game 4 we were down by two goals and we came back and won it in overtime. That’s what the playoffs bring. You can’t dominate in the playoffs.”
The focus now turns to the second round and the Oshawa Generals. The Generals took down the eighth-place Barrie Colts in six games in their opening-round matchup. Generals goaltender Jacob Oster had an impressive .926 save percentage in those six games.
Ottawa’s goaltender Colin MacKenzie has suffered setbacks this season, including injury trouble, but has been playing beyond the 67’s expectations in the playoffs.
In Game 1 against Oshawa, the 67’s fell 4-3. The Generals got two goals from forward Calum Ritchie.
The 67’s play Game 2 in Oshawa April 14 and come back to Ottawa for Games 3 and 4 on April 16 and 18. They will be without Mayich for one more game while he serves the duration of his suspension.
“I feel like [losing Mayich] will be a tough loss for us,” MacKenzie said. “But at the same time we’ve dealt with a few guys missing games in the first round […] and each time a guy couldn’t play, it made [the team] come together even more so it doesn’t worry me at all and when we get him back in Game 3 it will be even more exciting.”
Featured photo by Tim Austen.
