“We’re happy with the kind of shots that we gave up and whenever there were pretty good scoring chances, Zach Dietz did the job”
On Friday night at the Minto Sports Complex the 11-6-2 Gee-Gees took on the 6-10-2 Nipissing Lakers in what would be a very entertaining matchup. It was a game filled with milestones — and penalties. Gees goalie Zach Dietz recorded the first shutout of his OUA career, while Gees defenceman Cam Gauvreau scored the first goal of his. The Gee’s would take this game 3-0 with lots of fans in attendance, defending home ice.
The first bit of action in the game came after a Gees shot where after the play two players would get called for roughing. The four-on-four play brought lots of action for both teams until the Lakers’ Charlie Johnson would put the Gee’s on the power play after a slash.
It would not be long before the Gee’s defender Peter Stratis would take a slap shot, left post and in to put them up 1-0. The Gee’s captain Anthony Poulin had a nice shot nearing the end of the period but would be stopped by the glove of Zach Roy. However, shortly after, Roy would get beat by Mathieu Desgagnés scoring the second goal of the game, and his ninth of the season.
In the third minute of the period the Lakers’ Harrison Caines was one-on-one against Gees goalie Zach Dietz, but would be stopped by a lightning fast glove hand. Three minutes later, Gees forward Desgagnés would try a wrap-around shot, with a rebound from Vincent Labelle deflected off the pad of Roy, but lining up Cam Gauvreau for a perfect shot, slotting it past Roy top shelf for his first of the season giving the Gee’s a 3-0 lead.
The Lakers Kyle Foreman would get called on a boarding putting the Gees on yet another power play. The Lakers had a thing going for the penalties as they committed yet another with a tripping call on Elias Lieffers. Forward Charles-Antoine Roy would get an open look from the wing but would be stopped by an impressive blocker save from Roy, little Roy on Roy action. As the second period came to an end the teams got a little bit chippy, and Gees winger Alexis Bonefon would get called for a four-minute major penalty continuing into the final period.
During the continuation of the Lakers power play, David Lafrance for the Gee’s would get a clutch goal line clearance from a bouncing puck past Dietz. The Gee’s would fend off the Lakers for the remaining three minutes of their penalty kill. About half way through the third period it seemed like all that was going on was the two teams throwing hits at each other left and right. Excitement came when the Gee’s Alexis Bonefon gave an outlet pass to Tommy Bouchard who would take a shot that would go bar down, but sadly out.
Immediately after, Bonefon was called for a penalty putting the Lakers on the power play. The Lakers would go on the penalty kill once again but Roy, who had been having a stellar game, stepped up to shut down all Gee’s shot attempts. Time was running out for the Lakers as they pulled their goalie. But it would ultimately be the Gee’s holding out for their 12th win of the season, and a well earned shutout from Dietz.
The win was well earned from the team against the Lakers, outshooting them 36-28, where 15 of those Lakers shots came in the final period, all to be stopped by Dietz who picked up his first shutout.
“I put in a lot of work with Blake [Hatt, the team’s strength and conditioning coach],” said Dietz after his shutout. “I think a lot of that has to do with conditioning, that goes to [Hatt], all the training that we do. And then just my mental game. I’ve been working on it a lot while I’ve been here with Kyle Bergh, our mental performance coach. And then just the boys. There were some huge blocks near the end and we just played a really good game which allowed me to get the shutout. But it was more of a full team effort than anything.”
As for the 6’0” Dietz’s lightning fast reflexes, he said “I practice as much as I can to keep the glove hand sharp. I try to do a lot of tracking before the game, just warming up the glove hand and then the same with my blocker hand. I’m obviously not the biggest goalie, so I know that if guys are trying to beat me, they’re gonna try to beat me on the outside, so I need to be able to move my hands quickly to make a save.”
There were some huge blocks near the end and we just played a really good game which allowed me to get the shutout. But it was more of a full team effort than anything
Gee-Gees head coach Patrick Grandmaître also spoke after the game after the game “It got chippy at times. We gotta do a better job of keeping out cool, even with the sticks and some of the punches. I thought we did have good looks on the power play. We didn’t finish on a couple chances, two on the line rushes, we just didn’t punch it in. But all in all, we’re happy with the kind of shots that we gave up and whenever there were pretty good scoring chances, Zach Dietz did the job, so we’re really happy for him.”
