Photo: Chris Tanouye/Freestyle Photography/OSHC
The Black Bears fell just short of winning three straight games for the first time since relocating to Ottawa after dropping a tight 13-11 decision to Halifax on Friday night.
Ottawa (who fall to 3-3 on the year) held a 6-3 lead in the second quarter after a run of five straight goals — capped off by defenceman Nicholas Volkov scoring his first as a Black Bear on a partial breakaway — but the Thunderbirds (who improve to 3-2 on the year) then scored five straight of their own.
“Yeah, I think we just saw a desperate team coming off two losses in a row,” head coach Dan MacRae said after the game.
“We saw a veteran-clad team there who have lost in the semis a couple of times… they’ve got a couple guys on that team that will probably be in the Hall of Fame when their careers are done. Maybe we felt too good about ourselves at halftime. We haven’t had a game like that yet, so we’re chalking it up to experience, myself and the coaching staff.”
Reilly O’Connor entered the game needing just two points to reach 500 for his career and reached it with an assist on Rob Hellyer’s diving goal in the second quarter. The goal for Hellyer was his 900th point of his career.
Jacob Dunbar scored twice, his first multi-goal effort since Feb. 28 last season. Transition Jake Stevens notched three assists, Connor Kearnan scored once and added an assist, and Jeff Teat scored twice and added an assist, the first goal assisted on by defenceman Kevin Brownell.
The assist marked Brownell’s sixth straight game with a point, the longest point streak of the 37-year-old’s 14-year NLL career.
“It starts from getting the stop, playing good defence. We are trying to play a fairly aggressive system where we’re causing turnovers and putting the ball on the ground, that’s where you can kind of get up and run,” said Brownell after the game about the team’s transition play.
“We do have a young group and a lot of skill on the back-end. We want to push in numbers. Having not just one or two guys, but three or four guys that can all get up the floor and have the ability to run makes the defensive end a big threat. But I think just focusing on our own end first and not getting out early, [we need to] be better next week in our D-end first and those transition chances will come.”
Going forward, the schedule doesn’t get any easier. Up next is a visit to the three-time defending NLL champion Buffalo Bandits, and following that is a home game against the Vancouver Warriors.
This year, the Black Bears will play four Friday home games and five Saturday home games from November to April.
Next up at home is a Friday meeting with Vancouver on Jan. 23 at Canadian Tire Centre.
You can view the team’s entire schedule here, purchase Season Seats here, and Single Game tickets here.
Engage with the Black Bears on X: @OttBlackBears
Follow the Black Bears on Instagram: @OttBlackBears
