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hodgson injured Quote:
Rookies fill top-line hole with Hodgson hurting
Saturday, Mar. 6, 2010
<b>Barclay Goodrow</b>Barclay Goodrow
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – For one period, Barclay Goodrow had some big skates to fill.
With Cody Hodgson expected to miss the rest of the regular season with a broken foot, Domenic Alberga centred the Brampton Battalion’s top line with left winger Sean Jones and right winger Scott Tanski for the first two periods Friday night against the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors.
But with the Battalion trailing 3-0 after 40 minutes, coach Stan Butler replaced Alberga with fellow rookie Goodrow, who had been playing right wing with centre Thomas Stajan and left winger Stephon Thorne. The Troops, who host the Niagara IceDogs in Ontario Hockey League action at 2 p.m. Sunday, eventually lost 3-1.
“If a guy like Cody is out of the lineup, we have to take advantage of the extra ice time we’re getting,” said Goodrow. “We have to make all of these opportunities count. These are the times when you have to prove yourself as a player. Cody’s a guy I look up to. He’s a pretty well-rounded player, so you always want to play like a guy like that.”
Goodrow, who turned 17 on Feb. 26 after being the 17th pick in the OHL Priority Selection last May, has six goals and 13 assists for 19 points in 59 games. A left shot, he has played right wing in his last nine games.
“Going from right wing to centre means you always have to be supporting the puck and helping the guys out down low. I’m happy with whatever role I’m given here.”
Goodrow was involved in two promising offensive chances. He was unable to outrace two Mississauga defenders when he tried to break in alone on goaltender J.P. Anderson in the second period, and Goodrow’s attempted pass on a two-on-one rush late in the third just missed Jones’s stick.
“That first play was a nice pass from Thorne. I just didn’t have enough speed to get past their guys. In the third, I passed it to Jones when I probably should have shot and gone for the rebound. Knowing what play to make often comes from experience, but that’s a play I should have made.”
The Troops, who won 4-0 at Mississauga a week earlier, fell behind 1-0 in the first period on the first of two goals by Jordan Mayer, who gave the Majors a three-goal lead with five seconds left in the second period when he swept a rebound past Battalion goaltender Patrick Killeen.
“After the way the game went a week ago, we knew the Majors would come out and really compete hard,” said Butler. “They really took it to us in the first two periods, but if it weren’t for Patrick and some of our defencemen we could have been down six or seven goals.”
Rookie Jacob Riley, who replaced Killeen for the third period, made four saves, while Sam Carrick scored on the power play at 1:51.
“In the third we competed a lot harder and got one goal back, but by then it was too late,” noted Butler. “They’re a very good defensive team that’s tough to come back on.”
The Battalion posted a won-lost-extended record of 2-4-2 against the Majors this season, all the losses coming by either one or two goals, including one in overtime and one via shootout. Mississauga, second in the Central Division, is seeded third for the Eastern Conference playoffs, while the Troops are third in the division and fifth in the conference.
“Our styles are pretty similar,” said Butler. “The shots were close. Both teams usually check pretty well, but I don’t think we checked very well in the second. That’s why the play was in our end all the time. The Majors are a team that plays a playoff-style game every night, and that will really help them as the season goes on.”
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