Owen Lalonde: sniper.
The Guelph Storm defenceman, known more for his defensive play, is on an offensive role.
After scoring four goals in his first 168 career OHL games, Lalonde now has four in his last 13 games.
That includes a pair of goals in the Storm’s 5-2 win over the Owen Sound Attack Friday at the Sleeman Centre.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” said Lalonde, sharing a laugh over the fact that he usually gets interviewed because he made a mistake or got traded.
Such is the life of a stay-at-home defenceman.
“Teammates help and we’ve got a pretty good group here. Everybody is pretty excited about what the future holds here and obviously I’m pretty happy to help out.”
Lalonde opened the scoring when he wristed one past Attack netminder Mack Guzda from the slot then he tied the game 2-2 in the second period, firing home a rolling puck that turned into a knuckleball on its way to the top corner of the net.
“With the talent we have I think it just ends up that everyone ends up getting points,” Lalonde said. “If we play the right way, good things are going to happen.”
Friday’s game was the first between the Storm and Attack since the big trade two weeks ago that saw three players from each team exchange jerseys.
“We knew they’d have big energy tonight. Under the circumstances, we knew that would certainly be the case,” Storm coach/GM George Burnett said.
“The last 10 minutes of the second period we really started to skate and the third period was our best period,” Burnett said.
It was a relatively dour affair until the third period, when the Storm broke open a 2-2 tie with three unanswered goals over the game’s final 18 minutes.
Nico Daws, making a rare home start, made 23 saves in the Guelph net while Mack Guzda made 31 for the Attack.
As for Lalonde’s scoring outburst, Burnett said “it’s good to see those guys get rewarded.”
MacKenzie Entwistle had a goal and two assists for the Storm, giving him nine points in seven games since coming over from the Hamilton Bulldogs.
The Niagara IceDogs visit the Sleeman Centre Sunday in a 2 p.m. start.
