PREVIEW: Series tied, Ottawa hosts Niagara in game 5 tonight

A heartbreaking 4-3 overtime loss in St. Catharine's sends the Ottawa 67's back to TD Place with a 2-2 series tie against the Niagara IceDogs. 

 

Brendan Perlini's wrap around goal ended the game 6:03 into overtime giving the IceDogs a must win victory. Instead of heading into Ottawa down 3-1, they put full pressure on the 67's to defend against home ice advantage.

 

Home ice advantage has been key in this series with the host winning all four times so far. 

"Always hard to understand but guys just feel more comfortable at home," Jeff Brown told TSN1200 this morning.

 

The 67's left Niagara following the game on Wednesday night and got in early the next morning. Brown gave them a much deserved day off Thursday.

 

Brown felt that his team played well last game and deserved a better fate. He doesn't want his team to forget what they just did.

 

"We battled for games 1, 2, and 4. We were really good. We just got to stay positive. This one is going to sting it and it should," said Brown on Wednesday night. "But at the same time, we should be able to look back and draw some strength from it, draw some confidence from it."

 

67’s Keys to Victory

• Continue good play from last game
• Better rebound control from Liam Herbst

 IceDogs’ Keys to Victory

• Protect the slot
• Depth scoring needs to show up 

 

Here’s a look at Wednesday night's lineups:

 

Ottawa 67’s  

 

Brendan Bell – Nathan Todd – Travis Konecny
Jeremiah Addison – Sam Studnicka – Dante Salituro
Travis Barron – Curtis Meighan – Trent Mallette
Mike Vlajkov – Ben Fanjoy – Adam Craievich
Jake Middleton – Alex Lintuniemi
Nevin Guy – Evan de Haan
Zack Pittman – Taylor Davis
Liam Herbst
Leo Lazarev 

 

Scratched
Brandon Lukezic
Ryan Orban
Conor Graham
Dylan McDonald 

 

Niagara IceDogs

 

Brendan Perlini – Carter Verhaeghe – Cody Payne
Billy Jenkins – Jordan Maletta – Josh Ho-Sang
Anthony DiFruscia – Mikkel Aagaard – Graham Knott
Johnny Corneil – Christopher Paquette – Mitchell Fitzmorris

 

Vince Dunn – Aaron Haydon
Blake Siebenaler – Ryan Mantha
Zach Wilkie – Brian Brosnan

 

Brandon Hope
Brent Moran

 

Scratched
Matt Gillard 
Jonathan Schaefer
Aleksandar Mikulovich 

 

HEAD-TO-HEAD

 

Ottawa:
Goals For- 21
Goals Against- 17

 

Niagara:

Goals For- 17

Goals Against- 21

 

Specialty teams

 

Ottawa:

PP- 27.8% (6th in league) *was 4th

PK- 80.0% (8th in league) *was 8th

 

Niagara:

PP- 20.0% (9th in league) *was 9th

PK- 72.2% (11th in league) *was 13th

 

Top performers

 

Ottawa:

• Travis Konecny- 2 goals, 9 points in 4 games
• Jeremiah Addison- 5 goals, 8 points in 4 games
• Dante Salituro- 4 goals, 7 points in 4 games

 

Niagara:

• Vince Dunn- 5 goals, 7 points in 4 games
• Josh Ho-Sang- 1 goal, 7 points in 4 games
• Jordan Maletta- 3 goals, 4 points in 4 games

 

NHL Draft Picks

 

Ottawa:

• Alex Lintuniemi – Los Angeles Kings (2nd round, 2014)
• Jacob Middleton – Los Angeles Kings (7th round, 2014)
• Travis Konecny – ranked #26 of North American Skaters in CSS’ Midterm rankings
• Jeremiah Addison – ranked #127 of North American Skaters in CSS’ Midterm rankings
• Dante Salituro – ranked #145 of North American Skaters in CSS’ Midterm rankings
• Liam Herbst – ranked #14 of North American Goalies in CSS’ Midterm rankings

 

Niagara:

• Brendan Perlini – Arizona Coyotes (1st round, 2014)
• Josh Ho-Sang – New York Islanders (1st round, 2014)
• Carter Verhaeghe – Toronto Maple Leafs (3rd round, 2013)
• Blake Siebenaler – Columbus Blue Jackets (3rd round, 2014)
• Brent Moran – Dallas Stars (4th round, 2014)
• Ryan Mantha – New York Rangers (4th round, 2014)
• Cody Payne – Boston Bruins (5th round, 2012)
• Aaron Haydon – Dallas Stars (6th round, 2014)
• Vince Dunn – ranked #53 of North American Skaters in CSS’ Midterm rankings
• Graham Knott – ranked #54 of North American Skaters in CSS’ Midterm rankings

 

Ottawa connections

• Brent Moran – Orleans native
• Billy Jenkins – Ottawa native

 

Schedule

 

Game 1 - Thu Mar 26 7:00 PM Niagara 5 at Ottawa 8

Game 2 - Sat Mar 28 1:00 PM Niagara 2 at Ottawa 8

Game 3 - Mon Mar 30 7:00 PM Ottawa 2 at Niagara 6

Game 4 - Wed Apr 1 7:00 PM Ottawa 3 at Niagara 4  OT

Game 5 - Fri Apr 3 7:30 PM Niagara at Ottawa

Game 6 - Sun Apr 5 2:00 PM Ottawa at Niagara

Game 7 - Tue Apr 7 7:00 PM * Niagara at Ottawa

*if necessary