Oshawa Generals win game three overtime thriller
Published April 5, 2023 at 10:02 am
The Oshawa Generals let Ryan and the Butler do it in game three of their first round OHL playoff series with the #1 ranked Ottawa 67s, with both players enjoying three-point nights and Ryan – Gagnier, that is – supplying the overtime winner to pull the Generals back in the series and send the hometown crowd home happy.
Ottawa still leads the series 2-1 with game three coming Thursday at the Tribute Communities Centre.
Butler, who had a fight and at times looked like he wanted to challenge the entire 67s team in game two’s narrow 3-2 defeat, got the Generals on the board early – with the 6’4” winger getting involved physically again in the ensuing scrum – and after Ottawa replied with three straight goals to jump in front it was Butler’s third period goal that sparked the Oshawa comeback.
Matthew Buckley (on a goal that survived a video review) and Gagnier supplied the offence to force the 67s to make a furious rally late and tie it on Jack Beck’s second of the night to force the extra session.
Calum Ritchie, who had three assists on the evening, did most of the work on the winner before feeding Gagnier, parked at the side of the net, for the game winner just 23 seconds in. Butler had the secondary assist.
Both Jacob Oster of Oshawa and Ottawa’s Colin Mackenzie made 23 saves, but Oster had to be especially sharp to keep the eighth-seeded Generals, who finished 49 points behind Ottawa in the regular season, in the game.
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In other Eastern Conference playoff games, Peterborough beat Sudbury 5-3 to take a 3-0 stranglehold; North Bay beat Mississauga 5-2 to go up 2-1; and Hamilton earned its first win, 5-3 over Barrie. The Bulldogs trail in the series 2-1.
