Oshawa Generals drop to last in OHL

OSHAWA -- It was ironic, and perhaps a tad maddening for him, that as Chris DePiero was speaking about his need for a game-breaker after another Oshawa Generals' loss on Sunday, Brett Parnham was enjoying his first multiple-goal effort as a professional.

A game-breaker certainly made a big difference at the General Motors Centre that night, but it was for the visitors, as Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nazem Kadri had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win for the London Knights.

It was an otherwise quiet night for Kadri, but as top players often do, he made the most of his opportunities, setting up captain Justin Taylor for the winner 6:49 into the period, then notching one himself eight minutes later, both on the power play.

The Generals, meantime, had played another strong game, outshooting the Knights 33-32, but couldn't muster any offence other than Christian Thomas's power-play tally early in the third.

Around the same time, Parnham, who left the Generals and signed with the Utah Grizzlies of the East Coast Hockey League last week, was scoring twice against the Las Vegas Wranglers, including the winner in overtime, to give him three goals in as many games.

And while Parnham's name wasn't mentioned, DePiero admitted the Generals desperately need "that dynamic player who would be a difference maker. Given the way we play, because we're very much a skating, in-your-face, forechecking team, we would need to have someone to come in who was dynamic in that regard, absolutely."

The reality is the Generals are turning in strong effort after strong effort, but without the ability to score goals at key times, they've plummeted down the Ontario Hockey League standings.

Where once they were tied atop the Eastern Conference, the Generals (8-13-3-0) have fallen all the way to last in the league after losing 11 of their past 12 games, including 4-3 in overtime against the Peterborough Petes Friday.

"It's Groundhog Day. It's the same thing over again," said DePiero, referring to the comedy starring Bill Murray, but certainly not laughing about it. "How do I find fault with the way our guys come back game in and game out? They've done tremendous in terms of sticking together and doing things together. The easy thing for these guys to do at this point would be to start pointing fingers, but they haven't."

DePiero made one significant change Sunday, giving Kevin Bailie the start in goal for the first time in nine games. He played well and was named third star after making 28 saves, but was outdone by his counterpart Michael Hutchinson, who was the first star.

"It's really tough," Bailie said afterward about another tough loss. "We've been playing good games, we just haven't been getting the results. We just need a couple of bounces to go our way and then we'll get things rolling again."

The good news is that, if and when the Generals do get going again, they don't have a whole lot of ground to make up. They're only a point behind Sudbury and Niagara in the battle for the final playoff spot, and just seven back of the East Division-leading Petes, to whom they have lost all four head-to-head meetings this season.

The Generals have a busy weekend against conference opponents ahead, with a game in Ottawa Friday followed by home dates against Brampton Saturday (7:05 p.m.) and Niagara Sunday (2:05 p.m.).