67's Beat Generals To Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

Filip Ekberg with the puck balanced on his stick. The Swedish forward has performed very well for Ottawa in the second half of the season [Image by Robert Lefebvre/OHL Images].

You can never predict what will happen in junior hockey. The truth is, that is what makes it one of the most interesting levels of the sport to watch.

Going into last night's game against Oshawa, Ottawa sat ninth in the Eastern Conference, four points behind the North Bay Battalion.

Ottawa's playoff hopes looked to be dashed after they picked up just one point out of six playing against Peterborough twice and North Bay once last week.

Niagara IceDogs Under Investigation For Cultural Review On Wednesday, Mar. 12, TSN's Senior Correspondent Rick Westhead reported that the Ontario Hockey League has hired a Toronto law firm — Turnpennery Milne LLP — to conduct a cultural review of the Niagara IceDogs.

However, the 67's went toe-to-toe with Oshawa for 60 minutes and snagged a valuable two points by beating one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference 3-2.

The lack of Nashville Predators prospect Andrew Gibson and New York Islanders prospect Calum Ritchie certainly helped Ottawa during the game. Additionally, Beckett Sennecke was ejected from the game for a slewfoot early in the second period. That left the Generals without three of their top players.

Swedish import player Filip Ekberg played a huge role in the game, picking up a goal and an assist to extend his current point streak to seven games. He has been one of Ottawa's most important players during the last couple of weeks, scoring 13 points in his last 10 games.

Goaltender Collin Mackenzie also had a strong performance, making 25 saves on 27 shots during the contest. It was a great bounceback game for Mackenzie after a difficult outing on Wednesday when he allowed four goals against Kingston.

It was Columbus Blue Jackets prospect and team captain Luca Pinelli who scored the game-winner halfway through the third. He also assisted on Ryan White's first OHL goal resulting in a two-point performance.

The win is all the sweeter for Ottawa as North Bay was pummeled by Kitchener 6-0 on the same night. This means Ottawa now trails the Battalion by just two points.

While hope remains alive in Ottawa, the road ahead is still incredibly difficult. They face Kingston on Sunday in their last home game this season before going on the road for games against Niagara, Erie and Brantford.

Ottawa needs to find at least two points in their remaining four games to catch North Bay, who also have a very difficult final four games. They play Barrie on Sunday followed by contests against Oshawa, Niagara and Sudbury. The bright side for the Battalion is they play three of their remaining four games on home ice.

The race will likely go right to the end. Who knows, we could even end up with a game 69 if things fall just right.

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