OHL Playoff Notebook: IceDogs bite back

The Eastern Conference was front and centre on Monday night with both games on the schedule coming out of the east.

The Niagara IceDogs rebounded on Monday to get back into their first round series with the Ottawa 67’s.

After losing the opening two games of the series, the IceDogs returned home for game three and beat the 67’s 6-2.

Jordan Maletta scored twice and assisted on another goal for the IceDogs while Billy Jenkins also scored twice for Niagara. Anthony DiFruscia and Carter Verhaeghe also scored while Brendan Perlini picked up an assist.

Jeremiah Addison scored both goals for the 67’s.

Ottawa now leads the series by a 2-1 margin heading into game four on Wednesday night in St. Catharines.

Monday’s other game saw the Barrie Colts take a 2-0 series lead on the Belleville Bulls with an 8-2 win at the Barrie Molson Centre.

Joseph Blandisi scored twice and assisted on two other goals to pace the Colts offensively.  Cordell James also scored twice for Barrie while Ben Harpur, Garrett Hooey and Andrew Mangiapane had a goal and an assist each. Roy Radke also scored for Barrie. Justin Scott and Michael Webster also had multi-point nights for the Colts with two assists each.

Matt Luff and Michael Cramarossa scored for the Bulls while Stephen Harper assisted on both goals.

The series, which the Colts now lead by a 2-0 margin, shifts to Belleville for games three and four. Game three is Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena.

Tuesday will be a busy night as six games are on the schedule:

• North Bay at Kingston (Game three; North Bay leads series 2-0)
• London at Kitchener (Game three; London leads series 2-0)
• Guelph at Owen Sound (Game three; series tied at one)
• Oshawa at Peterborough (Game three; Oshawa leads series 2-0)
• Erie at Sarnia (Game four; Erie leads series 2-1)
• Sault Ste. Marie at Saginaw (Game three; Sault Ste. Marie leads series 2-0)