Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “,….. proudly sponsored by Pete’s Auto Body.
Pete’s Auto Body; because we care about our community….
The Owen Sound Attack were blanked on Sunday afternoon at Sarnia by a score of 4-0.
I give Sarnia full credit for the win, especially to their netminder Ben Gaudreau who posted the shutout and their power play which clicked for 2 goals while Owen Sound was stymied and went 0 for 6 in the contest.
The Attack weren’t happy about the defeat, far from it, but from my vantage point, I’ll cut them a little slack.
First of all it was 3 games in 2 & 1/2 days in 3 different counties and you could see the impact as early as Saturday night midway through the win over Saginaw.
I’m also willing to assess the defeat with a broader picture of how successful November has been for Owen Sound, especially from a defensive standpoint.
During the 7 games played to this point, Owen Sound has given up just 15 goals against which is remarkable in its own right.
But more notable to me is that there have been just 5 goals scored against the Attack in that time period when they were 5 on 5.
The other 10 markers have been as follows; 7 power play goals against, 1 into an empty net, 1 while the teams were playing 4 on 4, plus a 3 on 3 overtime winner for London.
By comparison, Owen Sound has scored 14 times while 5 on 5 this month
The other aspect I see is that outside of London, Owen Sound has beaten the other 6 Conference teams they’ve faced and have yet to meet Flint or Erie who currently sit outside of a playoff picture in the Western Conference.
Do I think the Attack have it made ? Not at all…Not this year, ……certainly not with 21 games remaining against London, Guelph and Kitchener.
But I do like what I’ve seen in November and we’ll see what unfolds this week at Barrie and Saturday night when they face London again.
For Pete’s Auto Body, I’m Fred Wallace.