CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 2 – Peterborough at Ottawa (23-Apr) – Ottawa Wins 3-0, Leads Series 2-0

67s win 3-0 over the Petes! A SO for Battochio! Woo Hoo! See OHL game summary here. See the 67s’ playoff page here.

IN THE NEWS
From the Ottawa Sun Barre Campbell writes, 67's smother Petes. Snippets:

"As far as it being the best game of the year, it would rank right up there," said Kilrea. "Whether it was the best ... but it was certainly one of the best."

From the Ottawa Citizen Chris Yzerman writes, 67's hold home serve. A quote from Bickell:

"Winning the last two games -- first off starting in their barn and winning in OT, then coming back here and serving up a 3-0 game -- that's pretty confidence (building)," Bickell said after the 67's put the Petes in it up to their knees.

From SLAM! Sports, 67's shut out Petes. A quote from Battochio:

"It's a pretty big thrill," Battochio said after the 67's improved to 7-0 on home ice in the post-season. "The last few seconds seemed almost like forever.

"The boys just kept fighting and fighting. (They) have just to keep playing like that."

From the Ottawa Sun Chris Stevenson writes, Pete throws 67's a biscuit. I wondered what happened at the end of the game, with the 67s players looking towards the Petes’ bench. I guess this was it:

It was just a little thing and hardly noticed -- except to those to whom it meant the most. As time ran out in last night's 3-0 win by the 67's over Peterborough, Kyle Raftis of the Petes picked up the puck and threw it over the glass into the Civic Centre crowd.

A string of 67's was on its way down the ice to retrieve the puck as has been their custom in each of their wins this post-season.

The pucks from each victory are taped to a goalie stick that sits across the top of the big-screen TV in their dressing room.

It would have also been a significant souvenir for goaltender Danny Battochio, who had his first OHL shutout.

"That was an unsportsmanlike thing to do, to throw the puck over the glass," forward Brad Bonello said after the 67's took a 2-0 best-of-seven series lead.

"To my knowledge, that's a penalty and a suspension. They told us at the beginning of the year not to put anything in the crowd. I guess it depends on how they look at it."

More as it’s published.

PRE-GAME NOTES
The game was broadcast on radio (TEAM 1200/Dave Schreiber and AJ Jakubec) and television (Rogers Television 22/Scott MacArthur, Ed Hand, and Lee Versage).

PRE-GAME INTERVIEW W/KILLER (AJ)
(On Game 1) It was a hard fought game. They missed a couple of chances late in the game. We capitalized in one end and they didn’t.
(On the GWG) Kaspar’s setup was sheer determination and strength. He was going down and he had enough strength to get the puck out in front.
(Anything stand out?) Well the defence was good. We did a good job playing in our own end.
(On the importance of Game 1) Every game is important but we did get the home ice advantage. We know they’re capable of winning on the road. It’s one of those games that you hope you play your best.
(On the PP) It has been a problem at times. We don’t have to give them some of the chances we did. It’s better if we can play 5-on-5.

PRE-GAME INTERVIEW W/ ASST COACH HULL (Schreibs)
(On Game 1) The first period we really had a feeling out process. We started in the second and third. We had a number of OTs in the regular season with some pretty big successes. We had a great chances right before they scored, which is what usually happens in OT.
(On the key for tonight) Just stick to the simple game plan. We know Ottawa will come out of the gate fast, try to get the crowd behind them. We need to weather the storm for the first 10 to 15 minutes and we’ll be alright.
(On Morrison) He’s playing with a lot of confidence. The game comes to him pretty simple. We know what he’s going to give us.
(Need more from Ryder and Reddox?) We need more 5-on-5 from the whole team. The 2G on the PP were great, we’ve had this all year, but we need a few 5-on-5 to get our confidence up because Ottawa is pretty good 5-on-5.

LINE UP
*Forwards: McGinn, Talbot, Hulit (started); Bickell, Bonello, Mancari; Akeson, Petruzalek, Kaspar; VanderVeeken, Ouellette, Alphonso.
*Defensive pairings: Colbert, Joslin; Staubitz, Van Herpt; Beard, Lawrance.
*Starting in goal: Battochio. Guadagnolo as backup.
*Scratches: Reid (inj-ankle), Lahey (inj-conc), Spezza, Jarram, and Kiriakou.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
Wow. Wow. Wow.

Let me just give the reader an impression of how loud and pumped fans were for this game: when the players came out on the ice for pre-game warm-up (yes, pre-game warm-up) the boos for the Petes and the cheers for the 67s were as loud as they would be during a regular season game! It was unbelievable.

Conference Finals!

Also, to whoever put together the pre-game scoreboard montage (?GG) with the AC/DC and the players faces: you rock! That was so good. And it looked like it must have been fun to put together. The guys all looked so mean and intense, that I’m sure a few of them had to laugh when they saw it. It was a great intro. Nice job 67s organization!

And Battochio – a well-deserved SO.

SO!

Battochio's got things under control.

I was really impressed with the composure of the 67s after whistle stoppages and such. They were pretty good at skating away, and not giving into the Petes’ goading.

They’re still having troubles with the PP; they were only 1/6 tonight. The Petes had a terrible time with their PP tonight as well, going 0/6.

First period. Like Game 1, the 67s got on the score sheet first with a penalty. They were able to kill it off.

Chris Hulit scored the first goal (and consequent GWG), off a pass by Alphonso who had just come out from the penalty box. It was a wicked hard shot and MacDougald didn’t have a chance.

Peterborough seemed to be playing timid. The 67s were skating hard; they got 7 SOG before the Petes registered one.

Bickell fell into the Petes’ bench and couldn’t get out. His legs were waving in the air as he struggled to get out.

Bickell trying to get out of the Petes' bench.

Stewart was given a 10 minute misconduct at the end of the period – he attempted to goad Staubitz into a fight, even dropping his gloves, but Staubitz kept a cool head. A few seconds later, Reddox was penalized for high sticking (I didn’t see it, and later watching the Rogers broadcast on replay not sure either), giving the 67s a 5-on-3 with a few seconds left in the period.

SOG were 15 for Ottawa and 9 for Peterborough. The score was 1-0 for Ottawa.

Second period. Peterborough killed off the 5-on-3. I expected them to come out charging, to get back into the game, and killing off a 5-on-3 would give them a boost. While they did have some moments and Ottawa had some sloppy play, Ottawa was definitely the more aggressive team.

Ottawa scored to go up 2-0, a beautiful goal by Bonello. He was standing to the right of MacDougald all alone. Kaspar passed the puck from across the ice . . . beautiful play by them both.

Petruzalek scored seconds later, again with a beauty of a pass by Kaspar and a great set up by Akeson. This line is definitely clicking. This is what I thought we’d see from Kaspar and Petruzalek at the beginning of the season. And it seems that the louder it is, the better they play.

When a Peterborough player fell on Danny after rushing to the net, the 67s quickly came to his defence, creating a scrum behind the net.

SOG at the end of the period were 24 for Ottawa and 28 for Peterborough. The score was 3-0 for Ottawa.

Third period. Peterborough got a few chances in the third, especially during the last minutes of the period when they pulled MacDougald and had the PP. Battochio was steady in the net, making the saves right down to the last seconds. He was excellent tonight in not allowing rebounds.

There was no scoring in the third. Final SOG were 31 for Ottawa and 37 for Peterborough, with the 67s winning 3-0.

67s win Game 2!

A few more pics:

Akeson, the hero of Game 1.

Bickell shoots.

Bonello.

It’s not just Killer who gets to ‘talk’ w/refs during the game!

SCORING
OTTAWA
1, Hulit, (9) (Alphonso), 08:29
2, Bonello, (6) (Kaspar, Bickell), 13:21 (PP)
2, Petruzalek, (7) (Kaspar, Akeson), 13:55

PETERBOROUGH
None.

THREE STARS

The OHL three stars were: (1) Battochio, (2) Kaspar, and (3) Hulit.

The TEAM 1200 three stars were: (1) Battochio, (2) Kaspar, and (3) Hulit.

REFFING
Smith.

ATTENDANCE
9862.

NEXT UP
GAME 3 – Mon Apr 25 at PET, 7:00 p.m.

GAME 4 – Wed Apr 27 at OTT, 7:00 p.m.

*GAME 5 – Fri Apr 29 at PET, 7:00 p.m.

*GAME 6 – Sun May 1 at OTT, 2:00 p.m.

*GAME 7 – Mon May 2 at PET, 7:00 p.m.

*if necessary