OHL Preview: 67s Host Bulls
After a couple of quiet days, Ontario Hockey League action returns Wednesday evening with two games on the horizon. In the first game of the evening, the Ottawa 67s host the division rival Belleville Bulls.
• Belleville Bulls vs. Ottawa 67s •
Game Info: 7:00 p.m. faceoff; watch on Rogers TV, listen on Team 1200. Ticket information can be found here.
◊ Belleville: 18-9-3-1, 40 pts (31 gp) — 80 GF, 75 GA
◊ Ottawa: 8-22-0-3, 19 pts (33 gp) — 103 GF, 146 GA
The Bulls look to extend a three-game winning streak tonight, coming off victories over Peterborough, Kitchener and Owen Sound. They’ve earned at least a point in eight of their last ten games and have just one loss in the month of December so far.
Belleville holds first place in the East Division; the team’s 40 points are tied for fourth-best in the league despite having the lowest goals-for in the OHL. Only Kitchener has allowed fewer goals-against.
Captain Brendan Gaunce leads the Bulls with nine goals in 23 games, while defenseman Jordan Subban’s 22 points lead the team in that statistic. Center Garrett Hooey and defenseman Adam Bignell are tied for the team lead in penalty minutes, with 43 each.
A number of Bulls players are dangerous on the power play, but the team has scored just once this season shorthanded, with the lone goal coming from defenseman Brady Austin in a 4-3 loss to Peterborough on November 29.
Meanwhile, the 67s recently broke their eight-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over the Kitchener Rangers on Sunday evening. In five games this month, the team has allowed 28 goals against. Prior to Sunday, their last win came over Kingston on November 20, a 5-2 win.
Ottawa holds the last place in the East Division and last place in the Ontario Hockey League. The team’s 146 goals-against are most allowed in the league, and the team is one point shy of Peterborough for fourth place in the division.
Center Sean Monahan leads the 67s with 36 points in 24 games; he’s also tied with defenseman Cody Ceci for the team lead in assists (24). Meanwhile, center Tyler Graovac’s 18 goals are the most on the team. Left winger Steven Janes and defenseman Sean Callaghan each have 56 penalty minutes this season.
This is the fourth of eight matchups between the teams this season, with Belleville winning all three games so far, including a 5-3 victory in October and a 3-2 win on November 11.
The teams most recently met on November 25, when Belleville shut out the 67s by a score of 3-0. Sergey Kuptsov, Stephen Silas and Carter Sandlak scored in the win, and goaltender Malcolm Subban stopped all 23 shots faced.
After tonight, the teams don’t meet again until February, a month which will see them face off a trio of times before meeting for the final time this season in March.