Some time away from the Bayshore certainly did the Attack some good.
Deni Goure scored a pair of shorthanded goals in the third period to break a 1-1 tie, as the Owen Sound Attack downed the Kitchener Rangers 4-1 in Ontario Hockey League action Friday night at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
Cedrick Guindon and Sam Sedley also scored for the Attack (12-9-2), who won their fifth straight game to go a perfect 5-for-5 on a stretch of five straight road games. The trip started in Windsor last Thursday with a 12-3 win. That was followed by victories in Sarnia, Flint, Barrie and then wrapped up at the Aud Friday.
There was a bit of everything on the road swing. Offence one night, stellar goaltending performances a couple of others, and a comeback win sprinkled in.
“I think we found another way to win tonight, defensively holding the top scoring team in the league to one. And then our penalty-kill, getting two shorthanded goals was probably not expected. And Corbin played great in net,” says Attack interim head coach Darren Rumble. “I’m really happy for the guys. We’ll see if we can keep it going tomorrow.”
The Attack had a plus-21 goal differential over the five straight away games. They scored 27 goals, and allowed six.
Owen Sound also extended its point-streak on the road to eight games.
Filip Mesar scored the lone goal for Kitchener (17-6), which had its eight-game winning streak snapped.
The Attack just found another way to win. Goure’s two shorthanded goals tied a franchise record for most scored by a player in a game. There’s several others on that list.
He gave the Attack their first lead of the game 1:42 into the third. Ethan Burroughs forced a turnover in the neutral zone and poked the puck ahead for Goure, who had a clean breakaway in on Jackson Parsons. Goure deked a couple of times and then took a forehand shot high and beat Parsons over the glove.
Nine minutes later he did it again. Parsons came out to play the puck and tried to quickly move it up ice to catch the Attack penalty-kill on a change. But Goure was waiting in the neutral zone. He intercepted and again, he went in on a shorthanded breakaway. Again, he shot glove side and beat Parsons to put Owen Sound in front 3-1.
Sedley added an empty-netter.
The lone goal from Kitchener came just 29 seconds into the first period. Mesar rushed up the right-wing and put a shot toward the net that just went through Corbin Votary. It wasn’t the start the Attack were looking for.
But Votary settled in from there. The Rangers buzzed in the first period, outshooting Owen Sound 15-4. Votary held the line, with some help from the post on one low shot from Kyle Morey.
Guindon tied the game 1-1 at 14:53 of the first, turning down low and quickly firing a shot on net that squeaked through the five-hole of Parsons and just trickled over the goal line.
Votary made 35 saves in the win, while Parsons stopped 24 taking the loss. The Rangers outshot the Attack 36-28 while going 0 for 3 on the power play; the Attack finished 0 for 2.
Saturday, the Attack return home to host the North Bay Battalion. Game time is 7 p.m., at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre. It’s the first of three straight home games for Owen Sound.
KITCHENER’S KRYPTONITE?
The Rangers are now 17-6 on the season. Three of those losses have come against the Attack, who now lead the season series 3-2 over their Midwest rival. Owen Sound is the only team in the Midwest to beat the Rangers to this point. Kitchener’s record on home ice this season: 11-2. The Attack are the only team in the OHL to beat the Rangers so far at the Aud this season. They won 5-2 on Oct. 6, and handed the Rangers their second home loss Friday night.
EIGHT DAYS LATER
There are highs and lows over the course of an OHL season and you don’t have to look further than the past week-plus for the Attack to see that. Eight days ago, they arrived in Windsor on a four-game losing streak. They were 7-9-2, last in their division and ninth in the Western Conference. With that, came the unfortunate news their captain and leading scorer in the 2022-23 campaign Colby Barlow was going to miss at least a couple of weeks with an upper-body injury. The response? Wins in Windsor, Sarnia, Flint, Barrie and Kitchener. Eight days later, the Attack are 12-9-2, and into third in the Midwest Division and – for the moment – fourth in the Western Conference past idle Saginaw.
