Niagara head coach Ben Boudreau, right, reacts to a play in Ontario Hockey League action against Brantford on Thursday night at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
Bob Tymczyszyn / Torstar
Brantford goaltender Matteo Drobac (45) stops the shot - and the shooter - in Thursday night Ontario Hockey League action versus Niagara at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
Niagara head coach Ben Boudreau, right, reacts to a play in Ontario Hockey League action against Brantford on Thursday night at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
After one of the Ontario Hockey League’s hottest teams scored three goals on their first three shots, it looked Thursday would be a long night for Niagara IceDogs head coach Ben Boudreau and his injury-depleted lineup.
While the Brantford Bulldogs did go on to score a 6-3 victory for their fourth win in a row and sixth in seven games, an announced crowd of 3,340 at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines did see the home team get back into the game after struggling in the early going.
Indeed, the IceDogs dominated their Canine Cup rivals on the shot clock in the second period despite missing three top-six forwards and their top defence. The only thing missing were enough goals to complete the comeback.
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Brantford goaltender Matteo Drobac (45) stops the shot - and the shooter - in Thursday night Ontario Hockey League action versus Niagara at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
Bob Tymczyszyn / Torstar
“I thought our Achilles heel was being ready to go on the ice. Then we got a little bit of urgency after the first period, when we were down 4-2, but then we came back and played one of the best periods we’ve had,” Boudreau said. “We outshot them 16-3, but at the same time all the scoring chances we had, we still didn’t find the back of the net.
“Finishing offensive chances has been an Achilles heel for our scoring guys.”
While not making excuses, Boudreau said “no one is going deny” that injuries are hurting the Ice Dogs.
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“You tend to win with your guys. Our No. 1 defenceman was out, a top six centreman is out, a top six right winger is out, a top six left winger is out, then your depth guys – Kleiner (Evan Klein) and Verm (Andrew Vermeulen) – they’re out,” he said. “We just lost (Ryan) Humphreys, he’s an OA (over-ager). Things are tough.
“Right now, just from a talent standpoint, you’re left working with what you got.
Sixteen-year-old Ryan Roebroeck, the second overall pick in this year’s draft, scored his seventh goal of the season “which is great but it’s unfair to expect him to carry the load,” said the coach, adding that ideally younger players should be be “complementary pieces” at this point in their careers.
“It needs to be by committee right now, and I don’t think we have enough guys playing like that to carry us through. We need our goal scorers to find the back of the net and right now they’re not doing it,” Boudreau said. “We need our defencemen to lock it down, and we need everybody to play in unison.
“It’s tough sledding, one-goal games.”
There is no “definitive timetable” on when the injured players are expected to return to the lineup
“You hope, but there are no guarantees. This is what we have right now, we’re three regular forwards short,” Boudreau said. “We’re hoping and praying that we can get healthy here pretty soon.”
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Niagara visits the Flint Firebirds on Saturday and Saginaw Spirit the following night, but the new coach isn’t looking at the road trip to Michigan as another opportunity for team bonding. He pointed out the IceDogs have already played 21 of their 68 regular-season games.
“For us, there’s some urgency,” Boudreau said. “We still want to have a chance of making the playoffs.
“We can’t wait for December to go on a run, we need to start winning.”
He suggested winning “when you don’t have your A guys” will give the team much-needed confidence.
“Finding some sort of success on the road over the weekend is going to be paramount. We just have to find a way to do it,” Boudreau said. “Whoever’s in the lineup, there are going to be expectations that they play and do well.
“The guys who are in positions where they’re playing right now where they typically haven’t played this many minutes, this is their opportunity to showcase what they have.”
Ryan Vannetten, the first goal of his OHL career, and Gavin Bryant, his seventh of the season, rounded out the scoring for the IceDogs. Florian Xhekaj, Nick Lardis, Noah Nelson, Lawson Sherk, Cole Brown and Ben Bujold scored for Brantford.
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Niagara outshot Brantford 29-20 and held the Bulldogs scoreless on three power-play opportunities. Niagara went 1-for-4 with a man advantage.
Owen Flores started the game in net for Niagara but was replaced by Marcus Vandenburg 8:08 into the first period after allowing three goals on five shots. Vandenburg stopped 12 of 15 shots the rest of the way and was tagged with the loss.
Only the Kitchener Rangers and Saginaw, both 8-0, have longer streaks of earning at least a point than Brantford (6-0-1).
Niagara has lost three in a row to fall to 4-12-4-1.
’Dog Biscuits: The Bulldogs have six National Hockey League draft picks in their lineup; The Bulldogs are 20-0 versus the IceDogs since Niagara edged the then-Hamilton Bulldogs 5-4 on Sunday, Nov.10, 2019, on the road. Ivan Lodnia and Akil Thomas, with two goals each; and Andrew Bruder, the game-winner on the power play; provided the offence for Niagara in that game.
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