Kingston’s rookie goalie has become a problem the Ottawa 67’s still haven’t solved.
If the 67’s are going to reach where they want to go this season, they’re going to have to get past the Frontenacs - and find a way to beat Smith. So far, that’s been the hard part. Ottawa is 0-3-1 against its closest rival, and Smith has taken all four meetings while turning aside 134 of 140 shots.
He was at it again Wednesday, stopping 44 shots in Kingston’s 3-1 win before a “school day” crowd of 7,108 at TD Place.
The result stretched the Frontenacs’ winning streak to five games, a run that started with a pair of Rivalry Week victories over Ottawa. It also gave Kingston eight wins in its last nine games and pushed the club into a CHL Top 10 ranking for the first time.
Kingston is now 12-5-0 and sits atop the OHL’s East Division. Ottawa, at 9-5-2, is third, with the Brantford Bulldogs (11-5-1) between the two.
Afterward, assistant coach Norm Milley acknowledged what it can feel like when a goalie gets on a roll.
“Back when I played, I know when you faced a goalie that was hot it felt like there was just nothing you could do to get one by him,” said Milley, a former scoring star with the Sudbury Wolves whose 17-year pro career included cups of coffee with the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning. “When that happens, you just need to get some traffic at the net, get a lucky goal, lucky bounce.
“We had a lot of Grade A chances today. We had a lot of players in some prime real estate to score some goals, but hats off, their goalie played real well.”
Ottawa did create plenty of pressure, outshooting Kingston 12-5 in the first period, 17-6 in the second and 16-13 in the third. But Smith, who received a “C” rating on the NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary players to watch list, never gave in.
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