Guelph grabs three out of a potential six points
Playing in yet another three-in-three stretch, the Guelph Storm put themselves to arguably their toughest test of the season on Jan. 23 through to Jan. 25 in facing two of the CHL’s elite teams with a more than shortened and battered line-up. Not having iced their complete, regular roster once this campaign, the Storm made no excuses when facing off against the Erie Otters, followed by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds two nights later with a road match-up against the Plymouth Whalers sandwiched in-between.
On Jan. 23, the weekend stretch began with Connor McDavid and the Erie Otters visiting Guelph. Second in the OHL’s Western Conference, the Otters didn’t surprise many when McDavid pounced on a Tyler Bertuzzi turn over merely five minutes into the contest, beating Justin Nichols for the opening goal.
It would be Bertuzzi, however, who would respond with back-to-back markers in the middle frame, giving the home squad a 2-1 lead.
38 seconds into the third, Dylan Strome would find the back of the net to knot things up at two-a-piece. The final frame seemed to promise extra time as both teams were battling, leaving no wiggle room when it came down to the victory at stake.
With nine seconds remaining, however, the assumed script would be flipped as Cory Genovese scored to give the Otters a 3-2 win – a heartbreaking loss for a Storm squad that put forth an effort that seemed to be deserving of at least a single point.
Guelph traveled to Plymouth the following night, with a rebound effort at the forefront as they took to the ice against the Whalers.
Following a scoreless opening period, rookie Givani Smith – the eventual game’s first star – netted his first OHL goal to give the Storm a 1-0 lead at 5:52 of the second. The goal would end up being the game winner, as Guelph went on to take the contest 3-0.
Tyler Hill and Bertuzzi (empty netter) had the other two goals for the Storm.
Nichols earned a 29-save shutout performance for second star honours on the game.
Next up would be the Western Conference’s top seed, and the OHL’s second best, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds the following afternoon – a team who, unlike the Storm, had the day prior to the match-up off.
The Greyhounds opened the scoring just over two minutes into the game, however, the Storm responded beginning with Smith for his second career goal to spark four unanswered goals for the home team. Bertuzzi, Jason Dickinson, and Zac Leslie all had a role in the 4-1 lead that was welcomed through to halfway of the second period.
Great teams are never down and out, though, as Guelph was quickly reminded with one second period marker and one early third period tally – both by Jared McCann – to cut the Storm lead to one.
Rookie Tyler Boston restored a two goal lead, scoring Guelph’s fifth goal on the game to make it 5-3 just over two minutes into the third. However, the effort wouldn’t be enjoy as the Soo came back to net two more, eventually forcing the game to overtime and then a shootout decision.
In his first shootout appearance of his OHL career, Bradley van Schubert – who made 38 saves on the game – stopped McCann before allowing goals from the likes of Blake Speers and Sergey Tolchinsky.
Only Bertuzzi would get on the board for the Storm, seeing the Greyhounds complete the comeback with a 5-4 shootout victory.
Despite two late period losses that can certainly wear emotionally on a team, the Storm took away positives from the stretch, recognizing three out of six points with a short and hurting bench was a feat to be content with.
The Storm return to action on Jan. 30 when the London Knights visit the Sleeman Centre for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.