Alex Friesen was back to his normal self as he notched three points for the IceDogs in a suspenseful 4-3 loss to the Oshawa Generals.

Oshawa was off to a quick start as Conor Stokes and Daniel Pachis buried two goals in the first five minutes.

Niagara came back when defender Dougie Hamilton scored his first OHL goal, with help from Alex Friesen and Josh Moes to make it 2-1 after 20 minutes.

Matt Baldassarra continued to impress with his physical play, trying to get the Dogs going with a fight against Oshawa’s Emerson Clark midway through the second.

The game stayed at a 2-1 Oshawa lead for most of the second as both teams played tight defensively, and both goaltenders made some key saves.

The IceDogs took two minor penalties late in the period which allowed the Generals to capitalize twice on the power play, giving them a 4-1 lead going into the second intermission.

Niagara regrouped and came out hard in the third when Alex Friesen blasted up the wing creating a 2-on-1 chance and fed a beautiful pass to Andrew Agozzino who continued his point streak with his 17th goal of the season, making the score 4-2.

Oshawa took two penalties late in the third, and combined with pulling goalie Mark Visentin, the IceDogs were given a 6-on-3 advantage where they capitalized once on a goal from Reggie Traccitto, cutting the Generals lead to one.

That is where the score would remain as the Generals killed off their last penalty, making the final score 4-3.

The IceDogs will visit the Barrie Colts Thursday evening before travelling back to Niagara to host the Sarnia Sting on Friday at 7:30pm in their annual Teddy Bear Toss game. The Dogs will get a rematch against the Colts Saturday when they play host to Barrie at the Gatorade Garden City Complex at 7pm.

Again, all fans attending Friday’s game are encouraged to bring along a new or gently used stuffed animal to throw on the ice after the IceDogs first goal.

Tickets for these and all other IceDogs home games are still available and can be purchased at any IceDogs ticketing location.

For photos from this game and all IceDogs home games please visit www.RickDenham.com

Scoreboard:
1. OSH Pachis, (2) (Clark, Strnad), 1:55
1. OSH Stokes, (6) (Berger), 4:09
1. NIAG Hamilton, (1) (Friesen, Moes), 16:17
2. OSH Andreoff, (8) (Stokes, Hayes), 18:42 (PP)
2. OSH Jenner, (11) (Berger, DeHart), 19:44 (PP)
3. NIAG Agozzino, (17) (Friesen), 1:57
3. NIAG Traccitto, (6) (Friesen, Hamilton), 18:58 (PP)