Alexey Toropchenko scored twice as the Guelph Storm edged the Ottawa 67's 5-4 on Wednesday to even their Ontario Hockey League championship series at two games apiece. Montreal Canadiens prospect Nick Suzuki had a goal and two assists for Guelph, which trailed 2-0 in the best-of-seven final before winning back-to-back games. Ottawa native Liam Hawel and Nate Schnarr also scored. Hudson Wilson, Lucas Chiodo, Tye Felhaber and Kyle Maksimovich supplied the offence for the 67's, who had won 14 straight playoff games before losing Game 3 on Monday night. Toe drag 👌 Top shelf 👆 Tied series ✌️A #BestOfOHL kind of night for @CanadiensMTL prospect @nsuzuki_37 who makes @Storm_City history with a 🌪 record 3️⃣8️⃣ points in #OHLPlayoffs. #OHLChampionship | #OTTvsGUE pic.twitter.com/UbwYSnyUhp —@OHLHockey Storm goaltender Anthony Popovich stopped 30 shots. Ottawa's Cedrick Andree made 19 saves. The 67's host Game 5 on Friday, announcing before Game 4 that it had sold out. Game 6 will be back in Guelph on Sunday afternoon, the Storm's last home game of the playoffs. The winner of the series advances to the Memorial Cup in Halifax May 17 to 26.<doc-sep>The Guelph Storm are ready for the challenge to wrap this up at home Article content The Guelph Storm can see the finish line and it’s only one victory away. Nothing has come easy in these playoffs for the Storm so it’s no surprise they’ve erased a 2-0 deficit in the OHL championship against the Ottawa 67’s with three straight wins and can win the title Sunday afternoon with a win in Game 6 at 2 p.m. at The Sleeman Centre. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or The Guelph Storm are ready for the challenge to wrap this up at home Back to video With a 4-3 decision over the 67’s in Game 5 Friday at The Arena at TD Place, the Storm have the momentum and as they return to Guelph after pulling off the first road win in this series the club was sitting comfortably in the driver’s seat. That doesn’t mean the club’s work is done by any stretch of the imagination because the Storm haven’t been in this position since sweeping the Kitchener Rangers in Round 1. “We look to our leadership,” said coach George Burnett after Friday’s win. “There’s a lot of guys there that we will look to. Staying in the present, staying calm and understanding there’s going to be bumps in the road and there’s going to be pushes.<doc-sep>Share this Story: Stormy night for 67's as Guelph ties OHL championship series Stormy night for 67's as Guelph ties OHL championship series Article content GUELPH — In a junior hockey season in which so much has gone right, the Ottawa 67’s need to quickly figure out a way to recapture all of the elements that have made them so good. The 67’s were the best team during the Ontario Hockey League regular season, they won 14 straight playoff games — undefeated until Monday (a 7-2 loss here to the Guelph Storm). Now, following a 5-4 setback to the Storm at the Sleeman Centre on Wednesday night, the 67’s need to figure out a way to slow down the assault from a talented, high-octane Guelph team. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Stormy night for 67's as Guelph ties OHL championship series Back to video It’s now a best-of-three with the OHL championship series deadlocked at 2-2. Game 5 of the series will be played on Friday night in Ottawa. After Game 2 saw the first sellout crowd for a 67’s game since 2012, Friday’s match will once again see a capacity crowd at The Arena at TD Place. “We have home-ice advantage now,” said 67’s coach Andre Tourigny. “It’s two really good teams going at each other. It’s cliche, but we have to take it one at a time. The next game is really important — sure, in the playoffs, you really want to win — but for us, it’s about setting the pace and playing the way we want. That’ll be the focus for us, getting back to playing the pace we’re used to.” Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content What’s happened on the ice these past two games has to be a wakeup call. But it would also be ridiculous to count the 67’s out. There’s too much talent and pushback there. They certainly reacted to adversity on Wednesday, fighting back in the third period. “So far, the score dictates the tempo of the game,” said Tourigny. “When we get going and score a few goals, we get momentum. The same thing for them. We have to find a way to get momentum by other ways than just scoring goals. “I like the way we played in the third period. It wasn’t about the goals, it was more about the desperation and intensity we had. That’s the way we want to play for 60 minutes.” Asked what the difference for his team has been in Games 3 and 4, Storm coach George Burnett said: “We won more faceoffs, we’ve had the puck more. In Games 1 and 2 we chased a bit. The power play got a couple of big goals tonight. Momentum is huge, you saw it swing a couple of times in the last three minutes of the game tonight. Thankfully it wasn’t the difference in the hockey game. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content “You’ve got two good teams. I would expect them to play their best game and we’re going to try and play our best game Friday night.” The 67’s took a 1-0 lead 4:48 into the first period when Hudson Wilson moved in from the blueline and rifled a wrist shot that beat Guelph goalie Anthony Popovich top shelf, glove side.The crowd let the officials have it when Isaac Ratcliffe was given a minor penalty for checking to the head 9:11 into the first. But 1:09 later, Ottawa’s Noel Hoefenmayer was sent to the penalty box for high-sticking Nick Suzuki — and the Storm capitalized. With 67’s goalie Cedrick Andree sprawled, Nate Schnarr knocked the puck into the open net. Guelph made it 2-1 with 6:31 left in the opening period. Alexey Toropchenko took a big rebound and had an open side of the net staring at him. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The 67’s threatened to tie it a couple of minutes later, but Mitchell Hoelscher’s shot rang off the post. After a nice sliding save by Andree, Ottawa’s Merrick Rippon and Guelph’s Zachary Roberts got into a scrap following a mid-ice collision and earned fighting majors, with the Storm player earning an added misconduct. Then seconds later, Toropchenko made it 3-1 for the home team. With 6:26 left in the period, on a pass from Ratcliffe, Nick Suzuki pulled the puck back with a nifty move, as a 67’s defenceman slid past, and wristed a shot past Andree. Needing some kind of spark, the 67’s got it when — on a terrific shift with plenty of hard work and puck control — Lucas Chiodo found the net with 1:38 left in the middle period. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content But with Chiodo off for hooking 56 seconds into the third period, the Storm regained a three-goal lead when, from the side of the net, a Suzuki shot went in off Liam Hawel. Ottawa got that one back with 3:55 left when Tye Felhaber scored from the side of the faceoff circle. Two Guelph emtpy-net goals were called off with the officials calling both offisde. Officials were serenaded with a loud “Ref, you suck.” The 67’s scored their final goal — by Kyle Maksimovich — with 2.9 seconds left. And, the “Ref, you suck” chants got louder. Asked about the play of Andree, who stepped in for injured Mikey DiPietro in Game 2, Tourigny said: “I don’t think Ceddy is the reason (we lost). “As a team, we didn’t play the way we can. It’s tough for Ceddy, he didn’t play for six weeks. He won us Game 2 by making key saves at key moments.<doc-sep>GUELPH, Ont. — Alexey Toropchenko scored twice as the Guelph Storm edged the Ottawa 67’s 5-4 on Wednesday to even their Ontario Hockey League championship series at two games apiece. Nick Suzuki had a goal and two assists for Guelph, which trailed 2-0 in the best-of-seven final before winning back-to-back games. Liam Hawel and Nate Schnarr also scored. Hudson Wilson, Lucas Chiodo, Tye Felhaber and Kyle Maksimovich supplied the offence for the 67’s, who had won 14 straight playoff games before losing Game 3 on Monday night. Storm goaltender Anthony Popovich stopped 30 shots. Ottawa’s Cedrick Andree made 19 saves. The 67’s host Game 5 on Friday. The winner of the series advances to the Memorial Cup.<doc-sep>
Send this page to someone via email Alexey Toropchenko scored twice and Nick Suzuki had a goal and two assists as the Guelph Storm held off the Ottawa 67’s 5-4 on Wednesday night to tie the OHL finals series 2-2. Nate Schnarr and Liam Hawel also scored, and Anthony Popovich stopped 30 shots in the victory. READ MORE: Guelph Storm bounce back in OHL finals with 7-2 victory over Ottawa 67’s Lucas Chiodo had a goal and added an assist for Ottawa, while Tye Felhaber and Kyle Maksimovich scored late in an attempted comeback that came up short. Hudson Wilson had his first goal of the playoffs for the 67’s, and Cedrick Andree made 19 saves. Game 5 is on Friday night in Ottawa. After the 67’s opened the scoring on a shot by Wilson almost five minutes into the first period, the Storm took over with four straight goals. Story continues below advertisement READ MORE: Guelph Storm host Game 3 down 0-2 in OHL Finals against Ottawa 67’s Schnarr tied the game on the power play at 12:04 when he buried a loose puck in front of the net. The Storm took a 2-1 lead less than two minutes later when Toropchenko hammered home a rebound on a shot by Dom Commisso. His second goal of the game and Suzuki’s 15th of the playoffs put Guelph up 4-1. Chiodo made it 4-2 heading into the third period. I’ve never heard @sleemancentre as noisy and the atmosphere feel as “electric” as it has been the last few games. Keep it going @Storm_City on Sunday! — Larry Mellott (@stormradioguy) May 9, 2019 Hawel’s power-play goal at 2:28 in the third would hold up to be the game winner after Felhaber and Maksimovich scored late with the 67’s net empty. The Storm scored two empty-net goals with Andree out, but both were overturned on offside calls. READ MORE: Ottawa 67’s rout Guelph Storm 7-2 to take Game 1 of OHL finals Puck drop at TD Place on Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m. Game 6 will be played at Guelph’s Sleeman Centre on Sunday afternoon. If necessary, Game 7 will be back in Ottawa on Monday night. Story continues below advertisement Larry Mellott will have the call for each game on 1460 CJOY. For any doubters who wondered if all the trade movement @Storm_City was worth it the answer is a resounding YES, regardless of what happens in the rest of this series. — Larry Mellott (@stormradioguy) May 9, 2019