Coming off two wins in a row and a close call in Niagara Falls less than twenty-four hours earlier, Dayton found itself playing against the team they are chasing in the Corfield Conference, the Ottawa Barracudas.
The lesson they had hoped to learn in the 2nd half of the game the prior evening against the Thunder apparently didn't make the impression on the young squad from Ohio General Manager Bill Corfield hoped it would.
"Frustrated?" said Corfield, "Of course we are. It was a replay of the night before in Niagara Falls. We come out strong, we outshot them 15-8 and led 2-0 going to the locker room after twenty minutes. Then boom! We lost our game, the energy was zip and the effort just wasn't there at all."
The tale of two games is a good way to describe the game between Dayton and Ottawa.
After Adam Cracknell (1st - Severson/Irwin) and Alex Barkov (12th - Severson/Guentzel) scored to give Dayton a 2-0 lead heading into the second period, something changed.
Ottawa took immediate control of the contest and outshot the Musicmen 41-6 over the last forty minutes.
After Ottawa's Bobby Ryan and Dayton Sean Monahan (9th - PPG Severson/Drouin) traded goals in the second period to make it a 3-1 Dayton lead, the Barracuda's Ryan scored with just three seconds left to make it a one-goal game heading into the third stanza.
"We knew they had played the night before and we were pretty fresh from having two days off to prepare for Dayton. You could tell they were running out of gas in the third - the same thing happened to them in Niagara last night. We just wanted to keep the pressure and we felt something good would come of it," said Ryan.
Outshot 28-1 in the third period, its a tribute to Musicman goalie Brian Elliott who single-handedly forced the game into overtime.
"Without Elliott, they run us out of the building. No doubt about it" said Corfield.
Paul Stastny scored his 5th goal of the season to tie the game early in the third period. Ottawa pressured Dayton hard yet come the buzzer to signify the end of regulation, the score was still toed and the Barracudas had one more task left to take care of.
"We were dominating them. They couldn't get the puck from us. They were drained and we felt great. We knew it was a matter of time before we got another," said winger Tyler Toffoli.
After newcomer Severson was called for his third minor of the game, the Ottawa power play set up quickly in the Dayton zone and directed five solid scoring opportunities toward Elliot.
The fifth one went in to give the home crowd plenty to cheer about.
Veteran Jason Spezza tipped in a Tyson Barrie slapshot to score the game-winner and beat Dayton, 4-3.
"Dayton has a bit of a reputation for a fast start but a fast fade as well. I don't know if its conditioning or maturity or what, but this sounds like a pattern. If they can ever learn to play 60 minutes, that'll be scary," said Spezza.
Game Notes:
Dayton has been outshot over its last two games by a margin of 97 to 47. With a trip to Fort Erie to face the ice cold yet hungry Falcons, the possibility of another lopsided shot differential is quite real.
It is expected Brian Elliott will get the start again for the Musicmen against the Falcons. Jeremy Smith is expected to play in Seattle on Saturday night.
Newcomer Damon Severson posted three assists in his second game with his new team. When asked if Severson could expect to remain on the top power-play unit and first defense pairing, Dayton GM Bill Corfield responded, "Yes - it's a big part of his game and a big part of why we acquired him."
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