On a night where the Ottawa 67’s hit a season-low in attendance with 2,012, they showed the same offensive flare they did in the year 2012, but fell just short of a miraculous comeback on Wednesday night.
After trailing 5-0, Ottawa scored four consecutive goals before giving up an empty-netter, losing 6-4 to Kingston.
“We’re not happy at all,” said Chris Byrne, dismissing any positivity that could’ve come from the late surge. “We’re tired of being close, having half-way efforts.”
“We turned the puck over, we couldn't backcheck. Those are things we work on all year. If we do those things, we can get into the playoffs, if we don’t, we won’t get in.”
The lone highlight of the opening 40 minutes was the first career point for netminder Liam Herbst, who was credited with an assist on Brett Gustavsen’s second-period goal.
After one period, it looked as though the Barberpoles had finally found a way to prevent a track meet-type of match that typically happens with Kingston.
Corey Pawley opened the scoring from point-blank range, beating Trudeau through the five-hole late in the opening frame.
The wheels started to fall off in the middle frame for Trudeau as a weak point shot from Michael Moffat also beat him five-hole.
Trudeau allowed three goals on five shots in the period, getting pulled for the second time in three days after allowing the visitors to put up a five-spot.
“There were some goals that weren’t his fault,” said Byrne. “But five goals on that many shots is usually enough to pull a guy.”
Once again, Herbst came in and didn’t allow a goal in relief, as he did Friday against Belleville.
The comeback effort started midway through the third when Ryan Van Stralen scored a pair of quick goals.
“It's always nice to help the team out,” said Van Stralen. “But in the end it wasn't enough. I'm more concerned with wins at this time in the season.”
Travis Konecny scored to bring the home side within one, but a Henri Ikonen empty-netter sealed it for Kingston.
Even with 23 games to go, the season might hang on the next two games, a weekend roadtrip to Mississauga and Niagara with a chance to close the gap on two teams ahead of them.
Game sheet here.
Three Stars as Selected by TSN1200
Hardest Working 67's: Liam Herbst
Some pictures from the game:
Click here to see more pictures.
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