Brandon Caputo
@BCaputo_AGM
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The Niagara IceDogs travelled to Brampton for their first game at the CAA Centre (formerly Powerade Centre) for a Central Division matchup vs the Steelheads, having moved down the road from Mississauga this past offseason.
Niagara started the night sitting first place in the OHL Eastern Conference while Brampton, who came into the season as the number one ranked team in all of the CHL, have sputtered out of the gate and sit ninth place.
Niagara would get their captain and leading scorer Kevin He (Winnipeg Jets) back in the lineup after serving a two-game suspension for the late altercation in Guelph last Friday Night, while the Steelheads were led by Carson Rehkopf (Seattle Kraken) and Porter Martone, a consensus top pick in the upcoming 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
These two teams first matchup of the season was back in October for Niagara’s home opener at the Meridian Centre, where the IceDogs came away with a 7-3 victory. Jack Ivankovic and Owen Flores would face off in the net tonight, having fought in their first matchup and both being assessed four-game suspensions for their altercation.
Niagara were still without forward Alex Assadourian and Mathieu Paris, labelled as week-to-week, while goaltender Charlie Robertson is still listed as week-to-week as well. Defenceman Darcy Dewachter was a healthy scratch and Nick Frasca would be scratched after taking warmups.
GAME RECAP
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Kevin He would receive a pass for a breakaway just 10 seconds into the game but a quick stop by Ivankovic right off the bat on Niagara's returning captain, ready to go from the drop of the puck.
A tough break for the IceDogs goaltender as a shot would get to him and squeak past him on the five hole, swept into the net by Gabriel Chiarot, opening the scoring less than two minutes into the contest.
Brampton would extend their lead as an odd angle shot from Zebeski hit off of the back of Flores leg and past the IceDogs goaltender for their second unfortunate bounce goal of the game.
On the ensuing shift it would be projected top NHL Draft prospect Porter Martone taking the pass and ripping it on the one-timer from the left circle to extend the lead.
However, before the end of the opening period it was a pair of powerplay goals from returning captain Kevin He (18) and star sophomore Ryan Roobroeck (16), both wrist shots overtop of Ivankovic to salvage the period for Niagara and get them back to a 3-2 after 20 minutes of play.
No scoring in the middle period after a combined five goals in the first 20 minutes but the IceDogs were able to kill off another Steelheads powerplay as the only news worth reporting.
Niagara would go to the powerplay for a fourth time with 12:58 to play on the clock but it wouldn’t be until just before the final tv timeout where the IceDogs would break through as Kevin He with a perfect pass out front that finds the tape of Ivan Galiyanov (5) who redirected it off the post and in past Ivankovic, evening the game up at three apiece.
Owen Flores would make a massive cross crease glove save in tight to keep the game even with 4:17 to go on the clock, with a save of the night and even bigger given the tied score as his IceDogs teammates showed appreciation afterwards.
Two massive sprawling saves in overtime by Niagara's goaltender kept it going after the IceDogs had some zone time but weren’t able to close it out in the three on three overtime rushes, which included a great chance in tight from hometown boy Ethan Czata, with a plethora of friends and family in attendance.
Kevin He was hauled down with 32 seconds remaining in the overtime thanks to his speed in forcing Harding to go off for holding, to the dismay of the home crowd in Brampton, giving Niagara a chance. On the short man advantage the IceDogs were not be able to get it set up in the offensive zone before time expired.
In the shootout it was Porter Martone and Luke Misa both capitalizing while the IceDogs were not able to get one past Ivankovic via He or Roobroeck and earn a point on this night, falling in the shootout after a stellar 48-save performance from Owen Flores.
POSTGAME REACTION
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IceDogs head coach Ben Boudreau talked in the postgame about his overage goaltender Owen Flores settling in after two early unfortunate bounce goals that uncharacteristically got past the overage Illinois native.
“Well, it's kind of a funny game,” Boudreau said. “I think the only reason that we got a point was because of Owen Flores but at the same time, the first two goals, Owen will tell you all day long that those shouldn't go in from those different places. 52 shots against and took it right down to a shootout; he’s been incredible and when he's been playing like that you can kind of let him off the hook.”
“Those those two went in, and they shouldn't have, but at the same time we did not play well as a collective unit in front of him,” Boudreau said, coming to the defence of his net minder who kept the game close and allowed Niagara to claw back from a 3-0 first period deficit.
“We really did not play well at all systematically as a team but going down 3-0, we still appreciate the ability to find a way to come back. So it's a little bit of a head scratcher that one there tonight.”
Niagara’a bench boss also spoke about the impact of having his captain and offensive catalyst Kevin He back in the lineup, having served a two-game suspension for being a third man in and coming to the aid of teammate Andrei Loshko in last week’s incident up in Guelph.
“Kevin's going to give you his best effort every single night and it's always going to be an honest effort so you've got to respect him,” Boudreau said. “When we were down 3-0 he got us going with a big goal and at the same time he finds a way to factor in on the score sheet with the game tie-in. We don't get to overtime without him and it's good to see him come back into the lineup because we did miss him.”
Brampton Steelheads
The head coach talked about giving up far too many shots and great scoring chances, despite holding stars Porter Martone and Carson Rehkopf in check with a combined one point between the two elite stars on the Steelheads.
“Defensively we're giving up a ton of shots and so it's something that we're looking at extremely close what we're doing to give up those on the shots, but at the same time three goals against regulation two five on five goals, they did have a lot of grade-A chances,” Boudreau said.
“We're still finding ways to hang in there because we're still a very young group. You see the amount of young guys we have in our lineup and we're still making a lot of young mistakes, but we're playing as a team and finding ways to get it down at the very end. That's a really encouraging sign as a young group here.”
Boudreau ended with speaking about his mindset and strategy entering the skills competition shootout at the end of overtime, in which Niagara went 0-2 and surrendering 2-3 to Brampton as the deciding factor in earning the extra point on this night.
“This is our second shootout now, over 20 games into the season and Ryan Roobroeck goes one for one so that was an obvious choice,” Boudreau added. “We only got two shooters there and Kevin He is your leading scorer, so those are two obvious choices that we go with.
“We had a chance, but I think one of our achilles heels is hitting the net. We miss so many nets, and if you don't hit the net, you never give yourself an opportunity to score. That's got to be a scrutinized area of focus for us if we want to have success in those (extra point) scenarios.”
HOCKEYSTICKMAN PLAYER OF THE GAME
OWEN FLORES - 48 SAVES
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