Joel Vanderlaan
@jovanderlaan
The Oshawa Generals opened their playoff run with a 7-4 win over the Brampton Steelheads on Friday night at the Tribute Communities Centre.
Last year's Eastern Conference champions didn’t wait long to open the scoring, as Colby Barlow found the back of the net just over a minute into the game.
A quick response from Brampton saw Angus MacDonell equal the score just past the three-minute mark. From there Oshawa's offence took over notching three unanswered goals in the first period.
Barlow tallied his second of the night, followed by Toronto Maple Leafs first rounder and team captain Ben Danford as well as Brooks Rogowski, giving the Generals a 4-1 lead at the intermission.
The goals kept coming in the second as Barlow completed his hat trick and Beckett Sennecke added another, stretching the lead to 6-1. Brampton fought back late in the frame, with MacDonell and Carson Rehkopf cutting the deficit to 6-3 heading into the third.
Early in the final period, Sennecke’s second goal of the night restored Oshawa's four-goal cushion, before MacDonell recorded his own hat trick with a late goal.
Five different Generals had multi-point efforts, while Jacob Oster turned aside 26 shots in the victory.
The series resumes on Sunday, with Game 2 set for 6:05 p.m. in Oshawa from the Tribute Communities Centre.
