Brandon Caputo
(@BCaputo_AGM)
Logan Taylor Photo
The Niagara IceDogs came off a win against the Sarnia Sting on home ice, looking to take the final game of a three-in-three stretch vs their canine rivals up in Brantford, their first head-to-head meeting of the 2024-25 Ontario Hockey League season.
Niagara came in still first place in the Eastern Conference, two points up on the Kingston Frontenacs, while the usually strong Bulldogs team came in ninth in the conference due to a four-game losing streak.
Buffalo Sabres 2024 seventh round selection Ryerson Leenders got the start for the Bulldogs in net, holding a 3-4-1 record in 8 starts, while Owen Flores started for the IceDogs coming off a win vs Sarnia and held a 9-3 record through 12 starts, having not lost back-to-back games this season in a bounce back performance from the night prior versus Erie.
Niagara were still without forward Alex Assadourian and Mathieu Paris, labelled as week-to-week, while Braidy Wassilyn would miss his final game away for Hockey Canada at the World U-17’s. Goaltender Charlie Robertson still out for Niagara in the net as Finn Moffett would be called upon to back up for Owen Flores.
Former Bulldogs Masen Wray and Callum Cheynowski would return to Brantford after being dealt to Niagara at last season’s trade deadline, while Zak Lavoie would be on the opposing side for Brantford against the team he captained at the beginning of last season.
GAME SUMMARY
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Back and forth play through the first half of the period, with the IceDogs only generating two shots before Max Crete would be called for a slash going in hard on the forecheck resulting in a Bulldogs powerplay.
Brantford would score on the man advantage to go up 1-0 as Cole Brown potted one past Flores, who had stopped the first 10 shots he faced before the opening tally of the contest.
IceDogs would come out in the middle period after being outshot 19-2 by the Bulldogs and be assessed a high sticking penalty right off the bat to Ivan Galiyanov. Nick Lardis would receive the pass on the right circle, curl and drag before a wrist shot overtop of Flores extended the Brantford lead to 2-0.
A quick response by the IceDogs as Ryan Roobroeck would take the pass from Ethan Czata on the right circle and wrist a perfect shot overtop of Leenders, his fourth in the past two contest to get Niagara on the board.
Niagara would receive their first powerplay opportunity with 5:08 remaining in the middle period and make it count as Kevin he would wrist one from the left hash and beat Leenders far post and in to even the game up 2-2. A two game goal streak for the Winnipeg Jets prospect.
With 23 seconds remaining in the middle period, Kevin He would catch the Bulldogs getting sloppy as the period was coming to a close off the turnover by snapping a shot past Leenders, giving Niagara a 3-2 lead going into the room, despite being outshot 31-16.
Logan Taylor photo
Niagara would come out in the final period and get a massive goal as rookie Max Crete would wrist one from the right boards that beats Leenders clean on the glove side to extend the IceDogs lead to 4-2, the 16-year-old second round rookie’s seventh goal of the season.
Shortly after it was Jack Brauti taking a wrist shot with traffic that squeaked past Leenders to make it 5-2 for the IceDogs, chasing the Brantford starter from the net, replaced by David Egorov.
Zak Lavoie would get the Bulldogs a goal and then a penalty to Andrei Loshko would give Brantford some momentum. Luca Testa would score shortly after on the one timer from the right circle as their powerplay was expiring to make it a one goal game.
More relentless pressure in the final minutes with Brantford desperately trying to even it up but the IceDogs bend and don’t break with Owen Flores coming up with big saves late as the puck was scrambling around all ends of his crease.
Kevin He would seal it in the empty net to complete the hat trick and a 6-4 final, with Niagara’s first win against the Bulldogs organization since November 10th 2019.
POSTGAME REACTION
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IceDogs head coach Ben Boudreau spoke in the postgame about the character of his group to battle back after a tough game to start the week against Erie to earn two straight wins over Sarnia and Brantford on route to winning the week as they’ve stated so far this season.
“I mean, you want to talk about resilience,” Boudreau said. “I think we've said that every single game now, where we have some sort of pushback. You take a few rotten apple games out where you know it didn't happen but I've never been around such a great group of kids having so much fun every single night.”
“They're so impressive; their will and the resiliency just to buy in and find a way to win it feels like it's game seven every single game and it's just fun to be a part of the Niagara IceDogs organization right now.”
The head coach went on to speak about his goaltender Owen Flores starting all three games in the three in three and coming away with two heroic victories, following his rough outing versus Erie back on Thursday night in which he was pulled in the second period.
“Clark Kent, he's regular clothes during the day, steps into the booth and puts on a Superman outfit,” Boudreau said. “Good goalies stop the puck and he's been doing it a lot."
“And you know, if it wasn't for Owen Flores, I don’t know what our record is. People talk about it being impressive. You need different ingredients for a really good recipe. Right now he's the main ingredient in a lot of our wins. Hats off to Owen Flores, he deserves a ton of credit and I think he's masking a lot of our issues right now but it is a team and there are 60 minutes and we're finding ways to win more often than not.”
Niagara’s bench boss also spoke about how proud he was of the response of his top players after he challenged them to be better individually and collectively, following the tough game against Erie and how they’ve delivered in doing so.
“Watching these young boys turn into men I think is so much fun right before our very eyes,” Boudreau said. “You watch the NHL and you see these players, but you don't really hear all the time about their journeys and what it took them to get there.”
“The way that they responded, the reason that they're wearing letters on their jersey is often what they do by example on the ice and in the gym and in the dressing room and that's what you saw. Two leaders (Roobroeck and He) take the bull by the horns and find a way to make an impact.”
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Niagara's aforementioned gamebreaker forwards Ryan Roobroeck (13) and Kevin He (16) both had 4 goals apiece over the past two games, which has helped catapult Niagara to a pair of victories this weekend.
“It was Ryan’s turn on Friday, Kevin’s turn tonight and these guys are going to be mainstays every single game because they find ways to make an impact and you can't say enough about our captain, I think Winnipeg got a steal in the fourth round this past NHL Draft.”
Niagara's head coach touched on how the feeling and no-fear type attitude in the dressing room has resulted in them improving to 13-5 on the 2024-25 OHL season and currently still holding first place in the conference.
“I think that's why when you're driving there's a rear view mirror so you can watch the dust in the behind there, last year was last year, this year is this year,” Boudreau said about his new look team after only winning 17 games all of last season.
“We got the same white board that we said we weren't projected to even make the playoffs, let alone lead the Eastern Conference. And, you know how good of a group you have sometimes. Right now, there's just that feeling that anything is achievable.”
Boudreau, a coach who has won a Kelly Cup as a head coach in the East Coast Hockey League and professional hockey before coming back to the OHL and junior hockey last season, said this season is the most fun he’s had behind a bench as a coach.
“I want to say this is the most fun I've ever had in my life coaching a group of hockey players, I’m trying to enjoy the moment while we can,” Boudreau said. “I'm trying to enjoy the moment while we can because this group is a lot of fun.”
HOCKEYSTICKMAN Player of the Game: Kevin He (3 goals)
Vivid Eye Photography
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