Battalion push 67’s to the brink of elimination after OT victory

Article content

Battalion 3, 67’s 2 (OT)

Article content

(Battalion leads best of seven series 3-0)

It’s all about fine lines as the Ottawa 67’s search for silver linings in trying to keep their season alive.

After a Game 3 that featured a little bit of everything — including a disallowed overtime goal and a frantic late third period rally by the 67’s — the 67’s find themselves down 3-0 in their best of seven opening round series against the North Bay Battalion, on the brink of elimination.

Game 4 goes Wednesday at TD Place. If there is a Game 5, it will be played in North Bay on Thursday.

In a tight series where a break or two the other way could have put an entirely different twist on things, the 67’s feel like they’ve stayed with the Battalion throughout.

After losing Game 2 on a goal with only 2.5 seconds to go, they lost Game 3 3-2 Monday on an overtime goal that bounced off a skate past 67’s goaltender Max Donoso at the 4:55 mark of overtime. It was credited to Brandon Coe, who scored twice late in Game 2.

Article content

“We had the momentum halfway through the third and we were pushing and we got those two late goals and it felt like we could have had another one or two even after that,” said Cameron Tolnai, who tied the game 2-2 with 1 :38 left in regulation and with Donoso on the bench for an extra skater.

Jack Beck scored the 67’s first goal with 3:05 left, ending a shutout bid by the Battalion’s Joe Vrbetic.

“It’s a tough way to go out, but we’ve got to keep our heads up,” said Tolnai. “If you look at Guelph from when they beat us (in the OHL final in 2019), they were down 3-0 in the first round, too. As hard as it is right now, we’ve got to look at the positives.”

The 67’s did catch a break in overtime. Kyle McDonald scored what appeared to be the winning goal after his flip shot deflected off the glove of defenseman Brad Gardiner past Donoso. After a lengthy video review, however, the goal was overtuned when McDonald was ruled to be offside. Nineteen seconds after play resumed, McDonald finished it off for good, on another lucky bounce.

Article content

“The big thing you learn is there’s a fine line,” said 67’s coach Dave Cameron. “If you just look at the overtime, the goal that was disallowed was not even really a shot on net and the winning goal wasn’t even a shot. It was off our guy’s skate. That’s the fine line.”

Cameron did credit his team for not hanging their heads while down 2-0 late in the third period.

“We stuck with it, tied it up, got it to overtime, got a couple of chances and (Tyler) Boucher was all over it, in front of the net. And (Brady) Stonehouse walked in at the top of the circle and was all alone. That’s the swing. That’s hockey. That’s what makes it exciting.”

With time ticking away in regulation, the 67’s looked dead and buried.

Despite plenty of sustained pressure in front of Vrbetic, they had no answers, down 2-0 on goals by North Bay’s Kyles — McDonald and Kyle Jackson.

Article content

Then came the comeback.

First, it was Beck. After blocking a shot in Game 1 of the series, Beck made a surprising return for Game 2 and he came up huge in Game 3, ripping a wrist shot into the net with 3:05 to go in the third period.

They weren’t done there. With Donoso on the bench for an extra skater and 1:38 remaining, Tolnai found a loose puck in the slot. Tolnai, looked in an extended goal scoring slump, couldn’t have asked for better timing. He hadn’t scored since March 19, a stretch that included the final 10 regular season games and the first two games against the Battalion.

Until the late third period comeback, the game had been an exercise in frustration for the 67’s.

In particular, the line of Vinzenz Rohrer, Boucher and Luca Pinelli was stymied time and again by Vrbetic.

Article content

Earlier in the day, the Austrian born and bred Rohrer had followed in the skatemarks of former 67’s star Marco Rossi by officially being nominated as the 67’s player of the year.

Rohrer scored 25 goals and 23 assists during his 64-game rookie season and had plenty of some spunk to his game Monday. Boucher, the Senators top pick from the 2021 NHL entry draft, was also in the middle of the action throughout, physical from start to finish, but he couldn’t finish when he had his chances in close.

Pinelli was also all around the puck, centimeters away from cashing in several times in the second period.

Vrebetic, who hails from Dunvegan, just east of Casselman, showcased why the Montreal Canadiens made him a seventh-round draft pick in the 2021 entry draft, facing 34 shots.

Article content

At the other end, Donoso was also sharp, stopping 33 shots.

The entertaining low-scoring tilt was a radical departure from the Battalion’s 7-6 victory Saturday, which put them up 2-0 in the series.

As close as the teams might have been throughout the two opening games in North Bay, the pressure was firmly on the 67’s as they stepped back on the ice at TD Place, needing to turn the tide to get back in the series.

The Battalion took Game 2 on Saturday after Coe tied the game and then scored the winner with only 2.5 seconds left for comeback win. The Battalion also won the opener 4-1 on Thursday.

It was a heartbreaking blow up north for the 67’s, coming up empty after going head to head and toe to toe with the Battalion for the better part of two games. The Battalion, tops in the Central Division standings in the regular season, finished 28 points ahead of the 67’s, who finished fourth in the East Division.

Article content

After Donoso stopped only three of six shots to start Game 2, Will Cranley took over, seeing the first playoff action of his career while stopping 21 of 25 shots.

Cameron opted to go back to Donoso for Game 3 and it didn’t start well.

Donoso lost control of a long shot to start the game and McDonald pounced on the rebound, flipping the puck past the 67’s goaltender.

Eventually, the 67’s did find their legs, but it was a case of heartbreak yet again, with Coe once again delivering the knockout punch.

“If we were up 3-0 in the series, nobody would say they don’t deserve to be up 3-0, so that’s how close it is and the stats show that — faceoffs, scoring chances, puck possession time, everything — but our Achilles is that we’re the lowest scoring team in the league,” said Cameron.

The message is to deliver more of the same intensity, trying not to look at the big picture.

“Don’t look at the top of the mountain, look at the trail that leads up to it,” said the coach. “Don’t get overwhelmed, just trust the process. You don’t have to be a mathematician to do the math on it.”

[email protected]

Twitter.com/Citizenkwarren