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 | Cole Cassels (above), Scott Laughton and Hunter Smith scored three power play goals to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 3-0 win over the Peterborough Petes. | | Oshawa - April 4, 2014 - Many of the 5,489 fans in attendance at the General Motors Centre on Friday night were wondering which Oshawa Generals team would show up to play against the surprisingly hot Peterborough Petes. The Generals had not seen game action in more than a week since sweeping the Mississauga Steelheads in four games.
Thankfully, a fully charged Gennies team dominated the shot clock in the first period, firing 17 shots versus the Petes' 4 shots, but failed to capitalize on their chances. The Petes, riding a hot goaltender in Andrew D’Agostini, closed the first period with neither team scoring.
At the 1:42 mark of the second period, the Generals would eventually capitalize on the power-play as big #34, Hunter Smith, scored his 3rd goal of these playoffs, after some relentless puck control and precision shooting on behalf of the Generals’ five-forward power-play unit.
The Generals would score two more power-play goals in the final frame on goals by Scott Laughton and Cole Cassels. Laughton fired a howitzer from the point that screeched through traffic stationed in front of D’Agostini. Cassels slid a soft pass through the five-hole on D’Agostini less than a minute after the Laughton goal to ice Game 1 for the Generals.
Andrew D’Agostini faced more than 40 shots in six of the Petes’ seven games played in Round 1 against the Kingston Frontenacs. Tonight was no different as D’Agostini deserved the first star of the game, stopping 40-of-43 Generals’ shots. He came to play on this night, standing on his head, coming up big when needed. If it weren’t for D’Agostini, the score of the contest would have been much higher.
Oshawa Generals’ veteran netminder Daniel Altshuller was solid on this night as well, but faced far fewer Peterborough shots, stopping the puck 18 different times throughout the night. This was Altshuller’s second shutout in the Generals’ first five games of these 2014 playoffs.
View From the Cheap Seats
Kudos to the Oshawa Generals second power-play unit in Game 1 of Round 2. Bradley Latour (#14), Chris Carlisle (#7), Mitchell Vande Sompel (#58), Dylan Smoskowitz (#23) and Stephen Desrocher (#37) kept good pressure on a defending Petes’ penalty kill squad in the first period, hemming the Petes in their own zone and getting a quality scoring opportunity.
Speaking of the power-play, the Gennies’ top power-play squad looked anything but the league’s first in efficiency in the first period as they fumbled the puck time-after-time and just couldn’t seem to shake the rust off their collective sticks.
Often taking various undisciplined and untimely penalties in the OHL regular season, Oshawa Generals’ enforcer Justice Dundas showed on Friday night that he can play hockey when he wants to. Dundas remained disciplined and was aggressive on the forecheck. He showed some nice chemistry with linemates Aidan Wallace and Mitchell Vande Sompel, especially in the third period, cycling the puck down low and even getting a shot on D’Agostini.
The freight train that is the Petes’ Nicholas Ritchie took some undisciplined penalties as he head-hunted the Generals’ Colin Suellentrop and Will Petschenig on two different occasions. The Generals’ Michael DalColle narrowly missed an errant elbow from Ritchie in the second period as DalColle was wheeling and dealing in the Peterborough zone.
The Generals’ first round selection in 2013, defenseman Mitchell Vande Sompel saw time at the forward position in Game 1. Vande Sompel is tenacious and is an offensive threat in the opponent’s zone. One concern for the Generals coaching staff is the number of head shots that Vande Sompel has received this season. He has had to deal with recovering from concussions this past season and tonight unfortunately was more of the same after the Petes’ Matthew Spencer delivered an ugly hit to the head of Vande Sompel at 18:38 of the third period. Vande Sompel had to be helped to the bench and did not return.
Speaking of vacancies from Friday’s contest…Peterborough Petes’ Jonatan Tanus was on the wrong end of a thunderous open ice hit by the Generals’ Suellentrop late in the second period. Tanus watched the rest of the contest from the press box.
The fight of the night was the only fight of the game and it featured 6’6″, 210-pound, “Big Rig” Smith versus Petes’ assistant captain, 6’4″, 204-pound, Clark Seymour at 19:51 of the third period. Prior to the fight, Seymour had just been plastered into the corner by Smith. Seymour received the worst of the punches delivered in a convincing win by Hunter Smith.
It should make for an interesting Game 2 on Sunday night at the GM Centre. Game time is 6:05 p.m. in Oshawa.
For the love of the game, I remain, Dean Eastman.
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