The Ottawa 67's kicked off their return to the postseason in emphatic fashion, sweeping the Eastern Conference's sixth-seeded Kingston Frontenacs in the first round of the OHL Playoffs.
Throughout the regular season, the Frontenacs had managed to make a name for themselves at several points. One such point was a mid-December stretch that saw Kingston win five straight games; one of those contests was a thrilling 4-3 win over the Windsor Spitfires at the Slush Puppie Place. Another was an end-of-season push that allowed for the team to pass the Niagara IceDogs for sixth in the Eastern Conference during the final weeks of the season; as a result, Kingston was able to avoid a matchup with one of either the Barrie Colts or Brantford Bulldogs in the opening round.
While it would be the IceDogs that earned the better postseason performance, one couldn't exactly predict that five of the eight first-round series would end in a sweep and that the IceDogs would avoid a four-game exit.
Did Ottawa completely dominate? Or did Kingston have their moments?
A little bit of both.
The 67's were able to build a 2-0 lead during the first 10 minutes of the series' opening game, but Nolan Snyder was able to bring the Frontenacs within one heading into the break. Ottawa would get a two goal lead back midway through the game when Nic Sima converted a power play opportunity to build a 4-2 lead for the 67's.
While the Frontenacs were able to rally and tie the game with two goals in just eleven seconds, David Bedkowski would give Ottawa a 5-4 lead with just thirty seconds to play before the second intermission. Two additional goals, scored by Cooper Foster and Connor Bewick, would push Ottawa's final advantage in the game to 7-4.
Game 2 would start in Kingston's favor; Alex McLean's first goal of the series gave the Frontenacs the early lead after eight minutes of play. But a power play goal from Thomas Vanterburg and a late-period tally from Jasper Kuhta would reverse Kingston's advantage and leave the Frontenacs heading into the intermission down 2-1.
The second period began the way the first ended: with Ottawa dominating play and then extending their lead by two goals. A strong third period would see Kingston bring Ottawa's three-goal cushion down to just one, with Aleks Kulemin and Alex Misiak both recording their first goals of the series, but it would be too little, too late for the Frontenacs.
Game 3 would see the backdrop of the series shift to the shores of Lake Ontario and the 1000 Islands, but it didn't really change the tone of the series. While Kingston was able to remain within one goal of Ottawa for much of Game 3, the 67's would score twice in one minute during the third period to give themselves a 3-0 edge. Matthew Henderson would bring the deficit down to two goals, but Sima would put the 67's back up by three after scoring a late empty-netter.
Despite being down 3-0 in the series, Kingston was still able to find their moments of success throughout Game 4; such success put the Frontenacs within touching distance of overtime. Despite going down 2-0 in the first three minutes of the game, Kingston was able to tie the game at two by the time the second period got in full swing. The Frontenacs succeeded at maintaining that scoreline for the second period and the vast majority of the final frame, and they even outshot the 67's 16-12 over those forty minutes. But Filip Ekberg would score the series-winning goal for Ottawa with just 30 seconds left in the game; the 67's would ultimately hold on to win by a 3-2 scoreline and advance to the second round.
How do both teams move forward?
While this is the third time in four seasons that the Frontenacs have either failed to qualify for the OHL Playoffs or fail to advance out of the first round, this was a foundational year for the Frontenacs as they looked to bring players like Snyder and Kulemin into the fold.
For the 67's, they'll look to build off of their success in the first round when they take on the Barrie Colts in the second round of OHL postseason action.