Win OHL Final rematch, drop Highway 7 rivalry
With four of five games in the 2014 OHL Finals being decided in the last 30 seconds or in overtime, it was only fitting to have the rematch follow suit. The Guelph Storm defeated the North Bay Battalion by a score of 3-2 after Stephen Pierog scored the overtime winner on a 5-on-3 advantage on Oct. 10.
A rather uneventful first period saw Battalion goaltender, Jake Smith, steal the show as he robbed Storm sophomore Adam Craievich of an almost sure-fire goal.
The contest’s first goals came in the middle frame, with Tyler Bertuzzi recording his first of the year to put the Storm ahead by one. Pius Suter would be next, burying a loose puck in front of the Battalion net. In addition to the 2-0 Storm lead, the second period saw a total of 26 penalty minutes handed out as the two OHL Finalists continued to settle some unfinished business.
The penalties didn’t end there, as the Storm would take three straight in the first eight minutes of the third period. The Battalion’s Jared Steege would capitalize with only two seconds left in the final powerplay, cutting the deficit to one.
The Battalion would strike again with four minutes remaining as Kyle Wood scored with a rocket of a shot to tie the game up at two on the powerplay.
Overtime featured a much more dominant Storm team as they took control of the play once again, pushing the Battalion to take two quick penalties. With a 5-on-3 advantage, Pierog put one past Smith in close, securing Guelph’s fourth win in a row.
Nichols stopped 16 of 18 shots.
Zac Leslie recorded an assist and received first star honours in his first game back in the Storm line-up after being returned by the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs.
A one-goal game with a different result was the story in the second match-up for the Storm on the Thanksgiving long weekend. After defeating their highway seven rivals, the Kitchener Rangers, in all eight contests during the 2013-14 season, the Storm surrendered the first meeting of the season 6-5 in Kitchener on Oct. 13.
The high scoring game featured six goals in the first period, both teams netting three each. The hot hand of Switzerland native, Suter, opened the scoring for the Storm, while the Rangers jumped out to a 2-1 lead after two goals from Nick Magyar and Guelph native Connor Bunnaman. The go-ahead goal would be Bunnaman’s first in the OHL.
Penalties would find the Storm shortly after, though how troubling these setbacks were debatable. The visiting squad would take a hold of the lead with two shorthanded tallies, first from Jason Dickinson on the breakaway and then Suter, potting his second of the game after taking advantage of a Rangers turnover. The 3-2 lead was short lived as Rangers’ Justin Bailey recorded a powerplay marker to tie the game with just 23 seconds to go in the first.
The Rangers’ Liam Maaskant was next in the parade of scoring, putting one past Storm goaltender Matthew Mancina for the 4-3 lead. Storm rookie Tyler Boston responded, tying the game with his first OHL goal ten minutes later.
The powerplay would prove to be useful for the Rangers again as Dmitrii Sergeev capitalized late on the five-minute checking-from-behind call on Guelph’s Chad Bauman.
The Rangers would pull ahead taking a 6-4 lead after Magyar pocketed his second of the game, sparking a goalie change for the Storm as Mancina, who allowed six goals on 22 shots, would be replaced by Nichols.
The final twenty minutes featured all kinds of pressure from the Storm, including a Ben Harpur point shot tally that pulled the visitors within one. That would be it for Guelph however, who couldn’t capitalize on chances in the final minutes of play despite valiant efforts.
The Storm look ahead to Oct. 17 when they return home to face off against the Niagara IceDogs.