Attack Back In Series With 6-5 Overtime Victory

The Owen Sound Attack headed to the Hershey Center in Mississauga trailing the Majors 2-0 in the OHL Final and pulled out a 6-5 victory in overtime to get back into the series.

In a surprise move, Michael Zador got the start for Owen Sound while Jordan Binnington was dressed as back up. Number one goalie Scott Stajcer was seen an hour before game time wearing a white suit. No surprises for the Majors as JP Anderson got the nod in net.

This wasn't the penalty filled affair game 2 in Owen Sound was but it didn't start that way as there were 7 man advantages in the opening period.

Andrew Shaw got it started from Jay Gilbert for Owen Sound at 5:17 of the first on the power play. It was Shaw's 9th of the playoffs. But Rob Flick would tie it up at one with a power play goal of his own, also his 9th from Maxim Kitsyn at 9:21 of the period. Kitsyn would give the Majors the lead with his 8th, also a power play goal from Brett Flemming and Jordan Mayer at 12:29.

Special teams continued to play the major role in the period when Robby Mignardi scored a short handed goal at 13:29 to even the score at 2 apiece. But on the same penalty, Devante Smith-Pelley restored the lead with his tenth goal of the playoffs. Stuart Percy and Justin Shugg would assist n the goal. Garrett Wilson would tie it again with yet another power play goal when he notched his 10th from Matt Stanisz and Joey Hishon.

Mississauga would out shoot Owen Sound 11-8 in the period.

Owen Sound would take a two goal lead just passed the midway point of the second period. Shaw scored his second of the game and tenth of the playoffs at 11:20 from Gilbert and Roman Berdnikov. Just 2:18 later, Mike Halmo would score his fourth from Matt Petgrave and Berdnikov to give Owen Sound the 5-3 lead.

Owen Sound wold out shoot Mississauga 11-9 in the second frame.

the Majors came out flying in the third. At the 1:37 mark, Flemming scored his first of the playoffs from Mika Partanen to pull the Majors within one. The Majors continued applying pressure and firing pucks at Zador when at 14:38 Smith-Pelley scored his second to tie the game. Shugg and Casey Cizikas would draw the assists.

The Majors out shot the Attack 17-7 in the period and 37-27 through regulation. Owen Sound's power play was 2/5 and Mississauga 3/7 heading into overtime.

But overtime would take only one shot and 56 seconds to decide the contest. Petgrave scored an unassisted goal, his fourth of the playoffs to pull Owen Sound back into the series.

Game four is set for Sunday afternoon at 4:30 pm in Owen Sound.

boxscore

OHL Final Preview

 

            VS







Owen Sound visits Mississauga for game one of the OHL Finals and the chance to hoist the J. Ross Robertson Cup beginning Tuesday May 3, 2011.

Both teams are coming off of 4-1 series victories. Mississauga took care of the Niagara Ice Dogs and suffered their only defeat through three rounds of the playoffs to date. Owen Sound knocked off the defending Robertson and Memorial Cup Champs while suffering only 3 losses through the playoffs.

This will be both teams first appearance in the OHL finals, although the Attack have been their before and won in 1986 when they were the Guelph Platers. The Majors have also won the Robertson Cup and the Memorial Cup back in the old OHA days when they played in Toronto. The current Majors franchise was revived in 1996.

The two teams squared off just twice in the regular season with Mississauga winning both contests. The first was on November 29 in Owen Sound with a 4-2 victory. JP Anderson was in goal for the Majors and stopped 26 of 28 shots. It was a costly loss for Owen Sound. Starting goalie Scott Stajcer stopped just 4 of 8 shots and left the game after the first period with an injury and didn't play again until late in the first round of the playoffs. Jordan Binnington came on in relief and stopped all 18 shots he faced and then carried the Attack the rest of the season.

Justin Shugg led the way offensively for the Majors with 2 goals and an assist. Marc Cantin and Mika Partanen would add the other goals. Devante Smith-Pelly had a single assist in the game. Andrew Fritsch led the way for Owen Sound with both their goals. Leaders Joey Hishon and Garrett Wilson had assists in that game.

The rematch was in Mississauga just eight days later with the Majors taking that one 6-3. Anderson would stop 34 of 37 shots while Binnington stopped 24 of 29 for the Attack.

Smith-Pelley tallied 2 goals and an assist while Casey Cizikas, Joseph Cramorossa and Riley Brace each had a goal and an assist for Mississauga. For Owen Sound, Garrett Wilson had a pair of goals while Joey Hishon had a pair of assists.

Here's a look at the playoff leaders, and their draft eligible players through the playoffs.

For Owen Sound's 15 games:

Garrett Wilson 9 goals 9 assists
Robby Mignardi 9 goals 7 assists
Joey Hishon 4 goals 12 assists

Andrew Fritsch 0 goals 2 assists (4 games played)
Cameron Brace 1 goal 4 assists (12 games played)

For Mississauga's 13 games:

Maxim Kitsyn 7 goals 7 assists
Jordan Mayer 5 goals 7 assists
Devante Smith-Pelly 7 goals 4 assists

Mika Partanen 2 goals 3 assists
Stuart Percy 1 goal 3 assists
Joseph Cramarossa 2 goals 1 assist

The goaltenders in this series have spectacular playoff numbers although Binnington's aren't that great. Owen Sounds Michael Zador leads all goalies with a 1.10 GAA and .958 SV%. JP Anderson is second with a 1.68 GAA and .931 SV%. Scott Stajcer is fourth with a 2.08 GAA and tied with Anderson with a .931 SV%. Binnington has a 3.88 GAA and .864 SV%. Owen Sound has used all three goalies in these playoffs.

The keys for Owen Sound are going to be difficult to come by. Hishon will have to provide more goal scoring. Stajcer is going to have to be a wall in goal. They can't afford to take undisciplined penalties against the Leagues second best power play and are going to have to find a way through the leagues best penalty kill when they get their chances.

For Mississauga its the same as its always been. Play their own game. The leagues best offense has 7 players with double digit scoring and the leagues best defense is allowing less than 2 goals per game.

With Mississauga being the host city for this years Memorial Cup, both teams are automatically entered this year, win or lose this series. But neither team wants in via the back door. To a man, both teams want this series and head to the Memorial Cup as Champions.

I've been lucky enough to be 10 for 14 selecting winners in these playoffs, so now it's prediction time. I think I'll have to go with the experience, leadership and depth in this one.

Mississauga in 6 games.

Mississauga 3 - Niagara 0

Mississauga Leads Series 1-0

This is the series between possibly the two best teams in the Ontario Hockey League. Mississauga came out and stuck to their game plan from start to finish, get the lead, shut the opposition down and capitalize on their own chances.

Not to mention depend on JP Anderson to do what he does well in goal and that's stop pucks when the opposition does get chances. Anderson stopped all 23 shots he faced for his fourth shut out of these playoffs, in only his ninth game.

It didn't take Mississauga long to strike. Just 48 seconds in Jordan Mayer scored his 4th goal from Maxim Kitsyn Mika Partanen to make it 1-0 for the Majors. You have to think that Mike Visentin will not like seeing Kitsyn that much in this round after his performance at the World Junior Championships for Team Russia.

Devante Smith-Pelly would then score his fifth to make it 2-0 from Casey Cizikas to close out the first period scoring at 14:17. The Majors would out shoot the Ice Dogs 11-6 in the opening frame. Mississauga, with the league's best penalty kill, would prevent Niagara, with the leagues best powerplay, from scoring on their two chances. The Majors did not have any powerplay time in the period.

The second period would produce just one goal. That came at 7:31 when Jamie Wise scored his first goal of the playoffs from Derek Schoemakers and Joseph Cramarossa. The shots in the period were 11-10 in favor of Mississauga. Both teams were 0-2 on the powerplay. We should also mention that Niagara has the second best penalty kill in the league while Mississauga has the second best powerplay.

Frustration set in for Ryan Strome late in the period when, at 19:17 of the period, he got into a needless fight with Dylan DeMelo. Strome did not fair very well in the bought. It's not to say that Strome was giving up size or that DeMelo is a fighter himself, but after the game with the gathered media scrum Coach Williamson was asked if he minded Strome fighting and he replied with "He's here to score". When asked again he replied "He's here to score".  We'll take that as a no Coach.

The Third period saw no goal scoring. The Majors would outshoot the Ice Dogs 9-7 for a total of 31-23 in the game. Both penalty kills were perfect on the night.Mississauga went 0-2 while Niagara went 0-5 on the night.

Game two goes Thursday night in the friendly confines in St Catherines.

boxscore

OHL Playoffs - Day 19

Mississauga 6 Sudbury 3 - Mississauga leads series 3-0

The Mississauga St Mikes Majors took a commanding 3-0 series lead when they defeated Sudbury 6-3 on home ice on Tuesday evening. Game 4 goes tonight in Sudbury.

The Majors come out flying again in this one doubling up on the Wolves in shots at the end of the period 18-9 and built a 2-0 lead. Jordan Mayer got it started when he scored his second of the playoffs at 5:31 of the period. Maxim Kitsyn and Mika Partanen would draw the assists on the goal. Then at 12:27 of the period, Mayer would score his second of the period and third of the post season when he connected from Corey Bureau.

The second period brought more of the same in shots with the Majors once again doubling up the Wolves, this time 16-8 but they would trade goals notching 2 a piece.

Rob Flick would get it started with his second of the playoffs at the 3:51 mark of the second period with the assists going to Chris DeSousa and Riley Brace to make it 3-0. Frank Schumacher would then score his first goal of the playoffs at 5:21 to make it 3-1. Josh Leivo would get credit with the only assist. At 12:05, Eric O'dell would get his 6th on the power play on a set up from Mike Lomas and Andrey Kuchin to pull the Wolves within 1. But just 1:16 later Justin Shugg would restore the Majors lead to 2 goals when he tallied his 4th from Casey Cizikas. The second frame would come to an end with the Wolves trailing 4-2.

But just 1:28 into the third the Wolves would pull back to within one when Leivo scored his 6th of the play offs with the lone assist going to Lomas. Almost 10 minutes later, at 11:25, Kitsyn scored his 5th from Mayer to put Mississauga back up by 2 once again.

With Alain Valiquette on the bench for an extra attacker, Bureau would score his second of the playoffs into an empty net to seal the victory.

Valiquette 9 of 10 in the third and 39 of 44 overall for Sudbury while JP Anderson stopped 18 of 21 in the game. Sudbury managed just 4 shots in the third and will have to drastically improve that if they want to force a game 5 back in Mississauga after tonight.

boxscore

Saginaw 5 Windsor 2 - Saginaw leads series 2-1

The Spirit won for the second straight game, and at home, to take a 2-1 series lead before the series switches back to Windsor for game 4 on Thursday.

Saginaw would score first 3:34 into the contest when Jordan Szwarz and Ryan O'Connor set up Garret Ross for his second of the playoffs. Josh Shalla would notch his 7th to make it 2-0 at 9:04 of the period with Ivan Telegin and Mathew Sisca. Then at 19:16 of the first, Szwarz and O'Connor would once again set up Ross for his second of the game to make it 3-0. Saginaw would outshoot Windsor 12-10 in the period.

The second period would see Saginaw extend their lead to 4-0 when Vincent Trocheck scored his 5th at 9:50 from Telegin and Brandon Saad. Windsor would cut into the lead when Zack Kassian scored his 2nd of the playoffs, unassisted at 14:09. That's the way the period would end with the shots tied at 8 in the second.

Another unassisted goal for Windsor, this time by Alex Khokhlachev at 12:52 of the third, would draw the Spitfires within 2. It was Khokhlachev's 5th of the playoffs.

But the comeback would fall short with Saginaw on the power play. Szwarz and O'Connor would each earn their 3rd assists of the evening, this time setting up Telegin for his 2nd of the playoffs at the 13:39 mark of the third.

Windsor would outshoot Saginaw 13-9 in the third and 31-29 overall. Jack Campbell was in goal for Windsor while Mavric Parks guarded the crease for Saginaw.

boxscore

Mika Partanen

Mika Partanen - Mississauga St. Mikes Majors
6'2" - 180 Lbs

An interesting selection here by the Majors in the import draft as Partanen signed a 3 year contract to play in Finland 1 short month before the draft. With a late 92 birthday, he is eligible for the 2011 NHL entry draft.

The big forward could stand to add some muscle and mass to his frame. Partanen has some speed, size, strength despite needing to add some muscle.He can handle the puck at full speed. He protects the puck well and it’s hard to knock him off the puck. He plays simple straightforward hockey and goes hard to the net and excels when jumping into open lanes.

Doesn't create his own scoring chances despite his willingness to go to the dirty areas. He's the typical example of a player that needs a set up man.

If he decides to play in the OHL, he'll come over to a Majors team that won't rely on him heavily for his offense and is an early favorite to win the OHL championship. Not to mention they are the Memorial Cup hosts and what better place is there to showcase yourself.