Published Mar 29, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 1\u00a0hour ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 4 minute read<\/p>\n
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Kingston Frontenacs defenceman Andre Mondoux (No. 25) marks Ottawa 67’s centre Jasper Kuhta (No. 22) in Game 2 of the first-round playoff series at TD Place on March 29 in Ottawa. (Photo courtesy of by Tim Austen\/Ottawa 67’s)Article content<\/p>\n
The Kingston Frontenacs lost 4-3 to Ottawa 67\u2019s at TD Place in Game 2 of their opening-round playoff\u00a0 series, but they can take encouragement from their performance in the third period when they were chasing a tying goal right down to the final seconds.<\/p>\n
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The favoured 67\u2019s built a 4-1 lead in the game\u2019s first 28 minutes and knocking Kingston\u2019s starting goaltender Gavin Betts out of the game . After goals on consecutive shifts by Shaan Kingswell and Thomas Vandenberg, Kingston coach Troy Mann pulled Betts in favour of Matt Minchak.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI had no choice,\u201d Mann said. \u201c[Betts] was bombarded in the first period and kept us in the game, but I was going to pull him after the Kingwell goal. I thought I\u2019d give him another chance. As soon as [Vandenberg\u2019s shot] went in I had to change momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n
It might have looked like Minchak was stepping in for nothing more than mop-up duty\u2014at that point Kingston was down by three goals and had been outshot 25-7. And for the balance of the second period it looked like exactly that.<\/p>\n
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Kingston had trouble breaking the Ottawa blueline and gaining puck possesion in the hosts\u2019 end of the ice. Minchak wasn\u2019t too busy over the balance of the period, credited with just five saves, but at least a couple were high-quality chances, the toughest of all coming on a reflex glove save on Spencer Bowes shot at the 19:59 mark that would have served as the dagger if it had found the back of the net.<\/p>\n
Even with the highlight moment, Ottawa had outshot the visitors 31-12 through two periods and the 67\u2019s seemed poised to roll through their series against the sixth-seeded Frontenacs in the minimum four games with not much resistance. Yet by the end of Game 2, the hosts were the team that was hanging on.<\/p>\n
Ottawa\u2019s Sam McCue took a holding penalty in the first minute of the third period in the neutral zone, a sloppy bit of coverage, but with no imminent threat. On the ensuing powerplay rookie Aleks Kulemin tipped home Van Williamson\u2019s shot from the point to pull the Frontenacs to make it 4-2.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat really energized the guys,\u201d Mann said. \u201cThey started to believe that a comeback was possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Less than three minutes later Kingston\u2019s Slovak imports combined on a set faceoff play to make it a one-goal game. Centre Tomas Pobezal won a draw from Bowes and deftly back-heeled the puck at the faceoff dot to Alex Misiak who wired a one-touch snapshot over the waving glove of Ottawa goalie Ryder Fetterolf.<\/p>\n
Kingston outshot the 67\u2019s 13-11 in the third and was pressing in the final minute with Minchak pulled in favour of an extra attacker. With 12 seconds to go, rookie Nolan Snyder had a shot at point-blank range on Fetterolf but couldn\u2019t get a clean handle on the rolling puck. As time expired centre Kieren Dervin fired a puck from the slot that the Ottawa netminder knocked down.<\/p>\n
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Mann took encouragement from his team\u2019s rally in the third period and particularly the all-rookie third line centred by Kulemin with Snyder on the right wing and Robin Kuzma on the left.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel great to be down two games but I can\u2019t say enough about the rookie line,\u201d Mann said. \u201cThey were our best line again tonight. They work, they compete, they know he systems and they\u2019re executing exactly what we\u2019re talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
The game got off to a promising start for the Frontenacs. Off the opening faceoff Ottawa centre Zach Houben was hit with a minor penalty for a hit to the head of his Matthew Frost, who had won the draw.<\/p>\n
Houben had tested the refs\u2019 willingness to blow their whistles early in Game 1, delivering three cross-checks across the back of Tomas Pobezal in the same situation. On Friday night, officials looked the other way in the name of letting the players have a little license, but in Game 2 they set an early standard.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe refs told me before the game that they were already told by their superiors that they were penalizing that stuff if it started out the same way,\u201d Mann said.<\/p>\n
Kingston might have been able to take advantage of possession with a delayed penalty call, but seconds later the play was whistled dead as Ottawa\u2019s Sam McCue was trading punches with Frost\u2019s winger Riley Clark, who had a goal and assist in Game 1.<\/p>\n
The 67\u2019s were just seconds away from killing off Houben\u2019s minor when their big defenceman David Bedkowski fired the puck over the glass and was hit with a delay-of-game penalty.<\/p>\n
Kingston didn\u2019t score on those early powerplay but did pick up a goal from left winger Alex McLean just past the seven-minute mark to open the scoring. It was the fourth shot on Fetterolf and also the last shot he face until the second period.<\/p>\n
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The 67\u2019s rained down pucks on Betts\u2019 net the rest for the next 13 minutes\u2014the Kingston starter faced 19 shots in the first period and hung in gamely, beaten finally by Thomas Vandenberg on a powerplay in the 16th minute and Jasper Kuhta at even strength less than two minutes later.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Ottawa] gained a lot of momentum from killing those two early penalties, and our powerplay wasn\u2019t good enough early\u201d Mann said.<\/p>\n
The coach and his players hope their best 20 minutes of hockey in this series will carry over to the first period of Game 3 in Kingston Tuesday and Game 4 on Thursday. The Frontenacs had their moments in their 7-4 loss in Ottawa Friday night, particularly in the second period when Will Bishop and Riley Clark scored goals 11 seconds apart to tie the game 4-4 against the run of play after another one-sided stretch of hockey for the home team.<\/p>\n
The Kingston coach faces a decision about his starter in the cage in Game 3. Minchak was flawless in making 17 stops, but for the last six weeks of the season the No. 1 job belonged to Betts.<\/p>\n
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