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PAGE B2 ♦ THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ DECEMBER 22,2004 durhamregion.com Generals finally catch a break Unfortunately it's just the Christmas break BY BRIAN MCNAIR Staff Editor OSHAWA -- This being the festive season, let's point out some of the good that came from the Oshawa Generals' 6-3 loss to the Plymouth Whalers Sunday. Still thinking... Here we go: Malt Piva, the team's seventh round pick in the 2004 draft, played a strong game and scored his first OHL goal in just his second game; Mike Kavanagh scored his second goal in as many games; and the team gallantly fought back from an early three-goal deficit to narrow the gap to 3-2 by the end of the first period. ! A professional spin-doctor .couldn't find much more than that, however. ; The reality is Santa Claus might not have too much in the way of presents for the Generals if he were to weigh the bad against the good right now. Desperate for a win after five without one and hoping to hit the Christmas break on a high note, the Generals instead fell behind 2-0 in the first minute against a team playing its third game in as many nights, but one with enough energy to hold the lead for the duration. The comeback bid raised hopes, but they were dashed for good when the Whalers scored the only two goals of the second period, the first -- the killer -- coming on a power play. "Clearly it's frustration right now," said left-winger Adam Berti, when asked to describe the team's mood. "We had glimpses Ron Pietroniro/The Canadian Statesman Peter Tsimikalis (10) of the Oshawa Generals winds up for a shot while being pursued by Andrew Fournier (15) and former Bowmanville Eagles James Neal during Sunday's game at the Civic Auditorium. Neal scored and added an assist in a 6-3 win for Plymouth. of brilliance, we played really well at some points, but we lapsed on the penalty kill. "We just need to get away front hockey for a bit over the break, just rest, and come back with a different mindset. Hopefully we can be a better.team in the second half." They had better be. Here are some of the cold, hard facts with respect to the first half: • Despite a 4-1 start to the season, season, the Generals are now 10-21- 1-0, 13 points back of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference; • The team's 2-14-0-0 road record is the worst in the OHL; • The team's divisional record is 2-11-1-0; • The team's power-play efficiency efficiency (13%) and penalty-killing success (74.9%) are both 19th out of 20 teams. "We've actually played some good hockey, haven't really been rewarded for it. We've lost a couple couple of one-goal games," Peter Tsimikalis said after his seventh game in a Generals' uniform. "Once we start winning these one-goal games instead of losing them, that's going to be huge for us. We can go on a bit of a streak and we'll be just fine." To do so, they'll have to elimi nate mistakes that keep reoccurring. reoccurring. Such as bmtal defensive zone coverage as seen when John Vigilante Vigilante opened the scoring 30 seconds seconds in, his first of two goals on the night. Or, a too many men penalty when the gap was two goals in the second period, followed more incredulously by a brief period where too few penalty killers were on the ice (the penalty was still killed off). "It just seems like the bounces aren't going our way," said Berti. "We just need to play a more solid game, do the little things, just finish our checks and get shots on the goal. Hopefully we'll come back from the Christmas break a different team." The Generals have four straight divisional games after the break, beginning Tuesday, Dec. 28 in Ottawa against the 67's (15-14-3- 1) and followed two nights later by a home date with the Belleville Bulls (16-13-4-2) at 7:05 p.m. GENERALLY SPEAKING: Captain Brett Trudell scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season Sunday... Ryan Gibb handled just two of five shots before being replaced by Carlo DiRienzo, who stopped 22 of 25... Whitby's James Neal had a goal and an assist for the Whalers... A very pale Brandon McBride gamely gave it a go for the Generals despite a bad bout of the flu, but shut it down after two periods, leaving the team with nine forwards... Rookie defence- man James DeLory will miss the next four games while competing for Ontario at the World Under 17 Hockey Challenge in Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta Dec. 28 to Jan. 4... Longtime Generals trainer Bryan Boyes will fill the same role for Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Grand Forks, North Dakota, from Dec. 25 to Jan. 4. St. Marys Toros tie Markham, thump Ajax, CLARINGTON -- The Clar : ington St. Marys Toros tied the Markham Waxers on the road, and then pounded Ajax on home ice. In Markham, the home team came held a one goal lead on three different occasions, but each time the Toros knotted the score, as the game ended in a 3-3 draw. The Toros scored the tying goals with just under three minutes minutes left. Scoring for the Toros were Alex Rogers, Richy Bray- brook and Chris Guarini with assists going to Michael Reid, Aaron Thompson and Guarini with a pair. The Ajax Trojans came to town and the Toros came out like they were on a mission, scoring right away, building a quick 3-0 lead within five minutes. The Toros dominated the flow of the game and were up 6-0 before Ajax scored a pair to make it 6-2. The Toros responded with a couple of more goals to put the game away in a convincing 8-2 victory. Scoring for the Toros were Braybrook, Teddy Roeloffzen, James Kehoe and Guarini with one goal apiece, while Kennÿ Thornton and Thompson had two each. Assists went to Scott Wood, Michael Reid, Riley Chapman and Thompson with one each and Ryan Kaminski, Rogers, Braybrook and Guarini with two each and Thomas Stone with three. 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