Joel Vanderlaan
@jovanderlaan
The Brampton Steelheads evened up their first-round playoff series at one apiece with a 3-1 win over the Oshawa Generals on Sunday evening at the Tribute Communities Centre in the tough four seed versus five seed matchup.
Steelheads netminder Jack Ivankovic kept the Oshawa offence in check despite the Generals having a 47-24 shot advantage. It was a bounce-back effort for the highly touted 17-year-old NHL Draft eligible goaltender, who was pulled on Friday night after allowing six goals on 16 shots.
Steelheads forward Luke Misa opened the scoring from a sharp angle with less than a minute remaining in the first period, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead heading into the break.
In the later stages of the second stanza, Carson Rehkopf doubled the lead, going upstairs with a backhander to make it 2-0.
After a hat-trick performance in the series opener, Colby Barlow continued his strong postseason play, getting the Generals on the board at the 17:33 mark of the final frame as Oshawa pushed for the equalizer.
Porjected top-five prospect in the upcoming 2025 NHL Entry Draft Porter Martone sealed the victory for Brampton, finding the empty net to give the Steelheads a 3-1 road win.
Jacob Oster made 21 saves in the loss for the Generals.
The series now heads to the CAA Centre for Game 3 on Tuesday night, with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m.
