Camp takes over in the third as River Dragons stay perfect

For two periods on Tuesday night, the Almaguin Spartans had the unbeaten Wasaga River Dragons right where they wanted them: tied, with 20 minutes to play.

Then Brad Camp took over.

The 19-year-old alternate captain from Atlanta scored twice in less than three minutes early in the third period, setting off a four-goal burst that carried Wasaga to a 7–4 win at the Wasaga Stars Arena. The River Dragons are 10–0 in the Greater Metro Hockey League (GMHL), and they have yet to drop a single point.

The final margin flatters the night. Wasaga trailed twice, needed two equalizers to get out of the second period tied 3–3, and spent much of the third shorthanded. Three weeks earlier, these same Spartans left town on the wrong end of a 9–1 score, outshot 64–24. This was a much sharper Almaguin team, and it made the River Dragons earn every inch.

Four goals in 7:35

The game turned at 7:40 of the third. Camp scored off a setup from Ivan Kostin and Christopher Goodwin to give Wasaga its first lead since the first period.

Less than three minutes later, at 10:37, he struck again, with Goodwin, his fellow Atlantan, and defenceman Ivan Zakharov setting him up. It was the first two-goal cushion of the night, and Camp's two goals gave him three on the season.

Then the floodgates opened. Yaromir Mikheev, the team's leading goal scorer, made it 6–3 at 13:07. Two minutes later, with Camp in the penalty box for slashing, captain Brian Erte scored shorthanded at 15:15 to make it 7–3. In seven minutes and 35 seconds, a tie game had become a rout.

Kirill Nemtsev's power-play goal for Almaguin 31 seconds later only trimmed the gap.

It was the third time this season Wasaga has gone into a third period tied, and the third time it has come out the other side with a win. The River Dragons were tied 2–2 with North York after two periods of the season opener on Sept. 29 before scoring three times in the third, and they rallied from 3–1 down to beat the Bradford Rattlers 5–3 on Oct. 4.

Two deficits, two answers

Nothing came easily before that.

Matvei Lutoshkin, a 17-year-old forward from Yekaterinburg, Russia, opened the scoring just 1:37 in with his first goal of the season, set up by Dmitri Sidorenko and Cédric Ringenbach. But Almaguin found its footing quickly. With Everett Gibson in the box for tripping and Wasaga on the power play, Kaelan Lauwerysen scored shorthanded at 11:52. Yegor Gataullin put the Spartans ahead at 15:54.

Sidorenko, from Vitebsk, Belarus, answered at 17:12 to send the game to the first intermission tied 2–2.

The pattern repeated in the second. Justis Stewart restored Almaguin's lead 3:04 into the period, and the Spartans held it until Gataullin went off for slashing. Kostin, an 18-year-old Russian forward, made them pay at 9:24, converting a power play set up by Camp and Ringenbach.

Wasaga outshot Almaguin 30–21 over the first two periods. It was a sign the River Dragons were pushing, but the scoreboard said 3–3.

Shevchenko holds the line

As Wasaga pulled away, the shot count tilted the other way. Almaguin outshot the River Dragons 19–16 in the third as Wasaga kept going to the penalty box. The River Dragons took five minor penalties in the period before the final two minutes, including two at 8:05, when Luis Kolinke went off for roughing and Ringenbach for checking from behind.

Artyom Shevchenko, a 21-year-old from Volgograd, Russia, who stands six-foot-five, absorbed the pressure. He finished with 36 saves on 40 shots and was named the game's second star.

Erte's shorthanded goal came in the middle of that stretch. It was his third shorthanded goal of the season, and his goal and assist on the night lifted the 21-year-old from Järvenpää to a team-leading 27 points, with 10 goals and 17 assists in 10 games.

Tempers at the end

The game finished with a flash of temper. At 18:47 of the third, Sidorenko and Almaguin goaltender Shane Brannick were both ejected after a fight, and Brannick was also given an instigator penalty. Matias Kochanin played the final 1:13 in the Almaguin net.

Brannick had faced 46 shots and made 39 saves before leaving.

The supporting cast

Camp finished with two goals, an assist and first-star honours. Goodwin, Ringenbach and Zakharov each had two assists. Ringenbach, an alternate captain from Freiburg, Germany, now has 20 assists, tops on the team. Sidorenko added a goal and an assist, and his 24 points rank second on the club behind Erte.

As a team, Wasaga has now outscored opponents 82–22 in 10 games, scored on 24.6 per cent of its power plays and killed 92.2 per cent of its penalties.

Scoring summary

First period

• 1:37 WAS: Matvei Lutoshkin (Dmitri Sidorenko, Cédric Ringenbach)
• 11:52 ALM: Kaelan Lauwerysen, shorthanded (Yegor Gataullin, Justis Stewart)
• 15:54 ALM: Yegor Gataullin (Everett Gibson, Kirill Nemtsev)
• 17:12 WAS: Dmitri Sidorenko (Matvei Lutoshkin, Rostislav Musalimov)

Second period

• 3:04 ALM: Justis Stewart (Yegor Gataullin, Kaelan Lauwerysen)
• 9:24 WAS: Ivan Kostin, power play (Brad Camp, Cédric Ringenbach)

Third period

• 7:40 WAS: Brad Camp (Ivan Kostin, Christopher Goodwin)
• 10:37 WAS: Brad Camp (Christopher Goodwin, Ivan Zakharov)
• 13:07 WAS: Yaromir Mikheev (Ivan Stolpovskikh, Brian Erte)
• 15:15 WAS: Brian Erte, shorthanded (Ivan Zakharov)
• 15:46 ALM: Kirill Nemtsev, power play (Daniil Dykin, Broden Howells)

Shots: Wasaga 46 (14, 16, 16), Almaguin 40 (11, 10, 19)

Three stars: 1. Brad Camp (WAS, 2G 1A), 2. Artyom Shevchenko (WAS, 36 saves), 3. Brian Erte (WAS, 1G 1A)

Up next

Ten games into the season, last year's North Division champions, who reached the Russell Cup final in only their second season, look every bit the team to beat again. Wasaga sits two points behind West Nipissing for first place in the North Division with four games in hand.

The schedule gets tougher from here. On Sunday, Nov. 1, the River Dragons visit North York (6–5–1) at 7:45 p.m. in a rematch of their season opener. Then they come home to host the Bradford Rattlers on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. at the Wasaga Stars Arena. Bradford is 8–2–1, third in the North Division, and has won five straight. The Rattlers are also the only team to lead Wasaga by two goals this season: they were up 3–1 on Oct. 4 before the River Dragons rallied for a 5–3 win.