Sports Roundup: 67’s take on North Bay Battalion in round one of playoffs

Your weekly round-up of sports in Ottawa for April 11-April 17, 2022. 

Ottawa 67’s

The 67’s closed out the regular season by splitting a pair of games against the Kingston Frontenacs. Friday’s game (Apr. 15) saw the 67’s blank the Fronts 5-0 at TD Place, led by a 26-save shutout from Max Donoso. Jack Beck had 2 goals and an assist for the 67’s who had 42 shots on goal in the onslaught. Brady Stonehouse’s 18th goal of the season which came 6:49 into the first period stood as the game-winner.

Kingston bounced back at home the following night (Apr. 16) to snatch a 2-1 shootout win. Jack Beck’s shorthanded goal opened the scoring in the second period, but Paul Ludwinski tied the game just over six minutes later. The puck stayed out of either team’s net until the fourth round of the shootout, where Lucas Edmonds beat Donoso below the blocker to secure the victory. Donoso had another strong performance, stopping 36 of 37 shots enroute to earning OHL Goaltender of the Week honours.

Ottawa ends the regular season as the 7-seed in the Eastern Conference, setting up a first-round playoff series against the 2nd-seeded North Bay Battalion. The 67’s had a 3-2-1 record against North Bay during the regular season. The series begins Thursday night (Apr. 21) at North Bay Memorial Gardens while Ottawa hosts games three (Apr. 25),4 (Apr. 27) and six if necessary (May. 1).

Vinzenz Rohrer finished the season as Ottawa’s leading scorer with 48 points (25 goals, 23 assists) in 64 games, while Jack Beck led in points per game with 1.22 (44 points in 36 games). Jack Matier lead defencemen in points with 29 in 66 games with fellow defenceman Anthony Costantini posting 26 points while leading the team in games played (67). Max Donoso enters the playoffs as starter in net after posting a .906 save percentage and 2.82 goals against average in 27 games.

Photo: Courtesy OHL