IceDogs hold on to win ‘wild one’ in opener
Goals were scored in waves when the Niagara IceDogs opened the Ontario Hockey League season on the road against the Mississauga Steelheads with an 8-6 victory.
After jumping out to a 2-0 lead, the IceDogs answered Mississauga’s first goal of the afternoon with four in a row to go up 6-1 at the midway mark of the second period.
At that point the visitors from St. Catharines appeared well on their way to a convincing win, but on Sunday appearances were, to say the least, deceiving. Mississauga needed less than three minutes to get back into the game with three goals, including two on the power play.
Niagara then went up 7-4 only to see the Steelheads come back with two of their own setting the stage for a dramatic finish.
Akil Thomas clinched the victory, and gave the IceDogs some much-needed breathing room, with an insurance goal into an empty net with 28 seconds remaining in regulation.
“It certainly was a wild one,” IceDogs head coach Billy Burke said in an understatement. “It was a little too back-and-forth for our liking.
“You never want to have a 6-1 lead, like we did have halfway through the game, and end up having to score an empty-net goal to win 8-6.”
“Then again, it’s opening week and we’ve seen some crazy scores around the league, and we were no exception.”
Two points weren’t the only positives the IceDogs were able to take from the game.
“I’m proud of the guys,” Burke said. “They were able to be resilient and hold on for the win.
“There are certainly a lot of lessons to learn.”
Sloppy play, turnovers and weird bounces due to ice conditions early in the season aside, the game again demonstrated the strength of the OHL across the board.
“It just shows that every team in this league is full of good players, and every team can score,” he said. “I hope next time that we have a pretty good lead, we can draw from this game and remember that things can change in a real hurry.
“You always have to keep playing the next shift as best you
can.”
Ivan Lodnia, one of the weapons the IceDogs acquired during the off-season, did not take long to make his presence felt in a new uniform. The former Erie Otters forward and Minnesota Wild draft pick broke a scoreless tie
with 3:10 remaining in the opening period and ended the game with two goals and an assist.
“He scored the first goal of the season for us, he looked strong, he looked fast,” Burke said. “He really looked like a guy that just got back from an NHL camp.”
Mississauga opened the season on the road Friday with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Ottawa 67’s. As a result, they may have come into Sunday’s game more prepared.
“It definitely helped them, and maybe we were still working out some kinks,” Burke said. “It’s nice to get this game out of the way.
“We’re very fortunate that, regardless of how we played, we still came away with a regulation win.”
Both teams made the playoffs last season. Niagara, 35-23-7-3, fourth in Eastern Conference; lost in the conference semifinals to the Hamilton Bulldogs, the eventual league champions; Mississauga, 33-32-1-2, seventh; were eliminated by the Barrie Colts in the opening round.
Bernd.Franke @niagaradailies.com 905-225-1624 | @TribSportsDesk