Brampton back in the series

Press Release

WINDSOR, Ont. -- Jason Dale had a goal and two assists and Thomas McCollum made 32 saves as the Brampton Battalion defeated Windsor 4-2 to cut the Spitfires lead to 2-1 in the Ontario Hockey League championship series.

Anthony Peluso and Cody Hodgson also scored for Brampton.

Taylor Hall had both goals for Windsor.

Game 4 of the series is Wednesday in Brampton, Ont.

Peluso opened the scoring just over two minutes into the first period when he wired a wrist shot from just inside the blue-line past the outstretched glove hand of Windsor goalie Andrew Engelage.

Hodgson upped the Battalion's lead to two goals before the end of the opening period with his 10th goal of the post-season. It came on a delayed penalty call with Brampton goalie Thomas McCollum on the Brampton bench in favour of the extra attacker.

Battalion head coach Stan Butler said getting off to a good start was an important part of his team's game plan heading into Game 3.

"It's always good to get the first goal of the game in the playoffs, and especially in this series and at this rink with the Windsor fans," he said.

"They have great fans here and they can really get behind their team so when Anthony (Peluso) scored the first goal and then we scored on that delayed penalty, it really helped give our team a boost and quiet things down in the rink too."

Matt Duchene and Dale scored to give the Battalion a 4-0 lead before hall scored both his goals, including his playoff-leading 15th goal in the third period.

Butler said cutting down on turnovers helped his team win.

"Windsor scored a lot of their goals off the opposition's turnovers and we did well in limiting those opportunities tonight," he said.

McCollum's play was in stark contrast to his series-opening performance a week ago when he surrendered six goals on 25 shots before being pulled in a 10-1 Windsor victory.

McCollum, the first round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2008 who was acquired from the Guelph Storm in a blockbuster trade deadline deal, was quick to praise his team's defenders.

"Our defence played well tonight. They cleared laneways so I could get a good look at the shots," he said. "And when they weren't doing that, they were busy blocking shots all night long. It made my job a lot easier."

Even with his team up 4-0 in the second period, McCollum knew his team still had a lot of work to do.

"Windsor has an explosive team, look how they scored there goals so quickly at the end of the first period of game one," he said. "With the goal scorers they have on that team, they are never really out of a game."

Engelage made 25 saves in a losing effort.

The game was preceded by a ceremonial face-off presided over by Chris Terry of the Plymouth Whalers. Earlier in the day, Terry was named the winner of the inaugural Mickey Renaud Captain's Trophy.

Renaud was the Spitfiires' captain when he suddenly collapsed and died at home in February of last name. The trophy bearing his name was announced during the OHL All Star game festivities in Windsor earlier this season.

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)