Kingston Frontenacs’ drought extended with Game 7 OT loss as Petes, Battalion advance: OHL post-game questions

KINGSTON, Ont. — The D'Agger was plunged into the Kingston Frontenacs' heart.

Since the Peterborough Petes overcame a 3-0 series deficit at the expense of the Fronts, it fits with whatever people want to intimate about Kingston. Perhaps there's another major junior team, although it's tough at the moment to find an example, that can torment its fans as much as the Frontenacs did. It scored on its first shot of the game before Andrew D'Agostini shut them down for the next 71 minutes, making 39 saves in the Petes' 2-1 OT win.

"They threw everything they had at us," said D'Agostini, whose Petes will face Oshawa in the Eastern Conference semifinal beginning Friday. "They’re a helluva team and they stuck it to us all season [winning 5-of-6 in the season series]. We knew what we were up against. It was intimidating, I’m not going to lie. You look at the scores. But we believed. That’s the word. We had faith. It has nothing to do with them choking."

The pair of 2-1 results, with North Bay getting by Niagara, closes out Round 1. On with the post-game questions:

Peterborough 2 Kingston 1, OT (Petes win 4-3, face Oshawa in Eastern semifinal) — To what extent was D'Agostini a determining factor? Over seven games, three of which went to overtime, the overage from Scarborough, Ont., faced 308 shots. To put it in perspective, that was 55 more than any other major junior netminder faced in a first-round series, and 86 more than the third-busiest 'tender.

Words really fail how in the game D'Agostini was by Tuesday night. At least three times, when the Petes were out of sorts in their defensive zone, he calmly angled his stick to tip low shots over the glass to get whistles. He also robbed impressive Fronts rookie Lawson Crouse midway through the third period. Score one for the five-year player who guarded the Petes net for 191 regular-season games before getting a playoff assignment.

"I'm pretty exhausted but it's well worth it," said D'Agostini, who had a 3.02 average and .925 save percentage and got some help from his defencemen keeping the crease largely clear. "I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. The Petes have been waiting for this for a long time. People ask me would you rather go to another team to try to win. I don’t want to win for any other place than Peterborough. I’m very proud to be a Pete right now."

Nick Ritchie's game-winner gave the high-ranked prospect five goals in as many games, although fellow draft prospect Roland McKeown used his quickness and ability for angling to negate the big winger for long portions of the night. Kingston's super prospect, Sam Bennett, finished with nine points (5G-4A) and who knows how many dangerous chances. D'Agostini just had the trump card.

"D'Agostini for sure had an incredible series," Frontenacs coach Todd Gill told the Kingston Whig-Standard. "He stood on his head every game. He shut us down. He was outstanding and that’s what you need in the playoffs. He deserves it."

Why could someone be forgiven for believing there must be a curse on the Frontenacs? An inexorable OHL law: if there's a cardinal sin of playoff hockey, the Fronts will commit it eventually. This time it involved a team dominating the third period — 15-5 on the shot counter, part of 40-31 on the night — but losing after the other guys buried its chance in overtime.

The first few minutes of the second were a critical juncture. Kingston overage captain Michael Moffat drilled Josh MacDonald near the Petes blueline and received a five-minute major and game misconduct for interference. When play resumed, Kingston, for the second time in the series, started a penalty kill by gaining control off the draw only to have a defenceman's clear go into the stands for a delay-of-game penalty and a souvenir for one fan. Hunter Garlent buried a rebound during the 5-on-3 to get Peterborough on even ground.

Had the Fronts won, how differently would Bennett's effort be remembered? The 17-year-old centre knocked both nets off their pegs in the second period. The first timewhen he was checked from behind by the Petes' Jonatan Tanus on a scoring chance, which resulted in Bennett needing to go off for repairs while Kingston could have sorely used both he and Moffat on the power play. Late in the frame, he raced back to deflect a goalmouth pass that was ticketed for Greg Betzold's stick on a 2-on-1 rush.

Kingston lost though, and that will bring the inevitable broad brushstrokes. Know this much: the next time Bennett plays without intensity might be the first.

North Bay 2 Niagara 1 (Battalion win 4-3, face Barrie in Eastern semifinal) — What made the difference for the Troops? Experience won out, as it ought to when the opponent has "14 players in either their first or second year of OHL eligibility." Niagara, with 17-year-old Brent Moran fashioning a 2.86 average and .921 save percentage over the run of his first playoff series, refused to go away. At the same time, the Battalion might have got sidetracked, but it stayed the course. Fittingly, its two leading goal scorers in the round, Dallas Stars pick Nick Paul and first-year import Alex Henriksson, did the honours in a decisive third period. Paul had five, while Henriksson potted four after getting 11 in 68 regular-season fixtures.

“I've always believed the character of our team comes from its leadership,” Battalion coach Stan Butler, who is now 3-0 in Game 7's, told the North Bay Nugget. “I thought those guys dug down deep and wanted to keep playing.”

How bright is Niagara's future? The 'Dogs illustrated why it's better for a team early in its growing phase to get into the playoffs rather than finish ninth, since it prolonged its run longer than generally expected. The IceDogs could bring back their entire defence corps if captain Luke Mercer plays his overage season, so it's a promising prospectus as it prepares to move into the Meridian Centre. Sixteen-year-old wings Graham Knott and Hayden McCool were each given a lot of rope, so to speak, over the run of seven games.

Turns out Niagara was smart to pick up graduating overage Eric Ming from Kitchener for two mid-draft picks, providing a security blanket for a young team. Ming broke out with 32 regular-season goals and four in the series.

“We only lose Ming and the rest of the team is eligible to be back,” IceDogs coach-GM Marty Williamson told the St. Catharines Standard. “We have to get better and some of it will be by age and experience, and they have to do some hard work this summer.

“We are on track to have a heck of a hockey team here.”

So no more mentioning Williamson's playoff record against Butler? Oh no, 6-1 is still impressive. Keep in mind the higher-seeded teams in those matchups is also 6-1.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.