The Kingston Frontenacs were looking to avoid a three-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon as they hosted their division rivals, the Ottawa 67’s, at the Leon’s Centre.
And although the first period seemed like a carry-over from Friday night’s loss to the Sudbury Wolves, the Frontenacs have plenty to be thankful for on Thanksgiving weekend, turning it around in a hurry for the second period, scoring 5 unanswered goals on their way to a 5-2 win over the 67s.
After Friday’s loss to Sudbury, Frontenacs head coach, Luca Caputi told reporters they should ‘expect a response’ from Kingston against Ottawa on Sunday, and the black and gold did just that.
“We’ve still got some things to take care of, but I thought the response was there,” Caputi said Sunday. “The kids played hard for 60 minutes, and the results were there at the end of the day.”
“I know the first period wasn’t exactly the way we drew it up, but for most of the game today we played pretty hard and deserved the win.”
“I think they’ve proven that they’re resilient and that they can play with some of the better teams in the league,” Caputi said.
Mason Vaccari was up to his old tricks Sunday afternoon, the Frontenacs’ starting goaltender was solid in Sunday’s win turning away 33 of Ottawa’s 35 shots.
“It’s a good way to bounce back. It’s always nice to get in the win column,” Vaccari said. “It just makes my job so much easier when we play like that.”
“Keeping shots from the outside and the chances down just sets us up for success.”
“His drive to be better every day has gotten him to this point,” Caputi said of his starting goaltender. “We expect him to continue to build off what he’s done.”
“He’s been very good for us,” he added.
Chris Thibodeau had a huge game, finding the scoresheet three times with a goal and two assists, the veteran forward was a catalyst for the Frontenacs offence against the 67s.
“Honestly, I think our line just clicked,” Thibodeau said after the win. “We had a lot of speed on our line and I think especially with Ottawa being tired yesterday we were able to just make them turn the puck over all the time and we were able to capitalize.”
“I think he’s been searching for a game like that,” Caputi said of Thibodeau. “That’s the type of kid that can really get on a roll and help our group.”
Not to be outdone, forward Jacob Battaglia scored twice for the Frontenacs.
Luca Pinelli opened the scoring for Ottawa at the 2:22 mark of the opening period. Pinelli took a feed in the slot from Derek Smyth, pulled the puck from behind his back through his legs made a move around the defender and fired one on the net, beating Mason Vaccari for his second goal of the season.
Kingston had one power play in the opening frame, and while they had some chances, weren’t able to score and only managed a shot on goal.
The shots after one period were 11-7 for the 67s.
The Frontenacs would get on the board at the 5:06 mark of the second. A tic-tac-toe play in the offensive zone ended with Chris Thibodeau tapping one in from the crease for his second goal of the season.
Momentum would continue in the Frontenacs’ favour four minutes later. Jacob Battaglia cut into the Ottawa zone, muscled his way around the Ottawa defender and shot the puck over the blocker shoulder of Ottawa goaltender Max Donoso to give Kingston a 2-1 lead.
The second period ended with Kingston up by one. Shots after two were 28-17 for the 67s.
In the third, Ethan Miedema gave the Frontenacs a 3-1 lead on a power play goal. Miedema took the puck from the top of the left circle, skated in and fired it on the net from the faceoff circle for his fourth of the season.
Tyler Savard kept it going for the Frontenacs on a nice one-time feed in front of the net at the 6:41 mark of the third for his first of the campaign. Chris Thibodeau assisted on the play, his second of the night.
Kingston would continue its onslaught at the 11:55 minute mark, Jacob Battaglia stood firm in front of the net as he tipped a Tommy Budnick shot and passed Donoso for his second of the night, giving the home side a 5-1 lead.
The 67s would find the scoresheet one more time, Will Gerrier got one by Mason Vaccari with 4.4 seconds left in the game.
Chris Thibodeau was the game’s First Star after scoring a goal and two assists, Jacob Battaglia’s two goals got him the Second Star, and Mason Vaccari’s 33 save performance earned him the Third Star.
The announced attendance for Sunday’s game was 2,052.
Kingston hits the road this week for game’s in Windsor on Thursday, London on Friday and Niagara on Saturday. The Frontenacs are at home next on Friday, October 20th when they host the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
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