The Ottawa 67's aren't lighting up the Ontario Hockey League - but they'll gladly take being above the .500 mark.
Logan Couture scored early in the first period and added two assists as the 67's beat the Oshawa Generals 7-3 Friday night, giving Ottawa its first winning record since mid-October.
The victory was the third straight for Ottawa, matching a season high. The 67's hadn't won three in a row since the beginning of the season.
"It's been a while," 67's coach and general manager Brian Kilrea said. "We played pretty well tonight and did a lot of little things. Every game starts with goaltending and from there on out. We had every line (working) and it's a big difference from what we had (before)."
Couture scored just 53 seconds into the game and added a pair of helpers and Matthieu Methot had two goals to lead the 67's to the victory.
Couture beat a shaky Jakub Kovar in the Generals' net and, after Methot and Adam Zamec followed with goals before the game was 15 minutes old, Oshawa was forced to switch goaltenders and never recovered.
Elsewhere in the OHL, it was: Kitchener 3 Plymouth 1; Owen Sound 5 Guelph 2; Mississauga 1 Brampton 0; Barrie 3 Sudbury 1; Sault Ste. Marie 2 Windsor 1; Sarnia 4 London 3 (SO); Niagara 6 Erie 4 and Kingston at Saginaw, ppd.
At Ottawa, Zamec, Thomas Kiriakou and Tyler Cuma all had a goal and an assist and Jamie McGinn also scored for the 67's (12-11-0-2). Radim Ostrcil chipped in with a pair of helpers and Adam Courchaine finished with 30 saves to earn the victory in net.
Patrick Asselin had two goals and Dale Mitchell also scored for the Generals (15-8-0-3), who have lost two of three. Brett MacLean had three assists while OHL scoring leader John Tavares was held to a single assist.
Kovar allowed three goals on 13 shots and his replacement, Daryl Borden, stopped 26 shots the rest of the way.
Kitchener 3 Plymouth 1
At Kitchener, Ont., Nick Spaling scored twice to lead the Rangers (22-3-0-1) over the Whalers (16-8-1-1). Owen Sound 5 Guelph 2
At Guelph, Ont., Josh Moes scored twice to lead the Attack (11-16-1-0) over the Storm (8-14-4-1). Mississauga 1 Brampton 0
At Mississauga, Ont., Mike Pelech broke up a goaltending duel and Chris Carrozzi recorded the first shutout of his career in the Ontario Hockey League as the Majors (13-11-1-0) beat the Battalion (13-10-1-2). Barrie 3 Sudbury 1
At Sudbury, Ont., Mitch Lebar scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period as the Colts (16-10-1-1) downed the Wolves (7-21-0-0). Sault Ste. Marie 2 Windsor 1
At Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Aaron Alphonso's goal early in the third period broke a 1-1 tie as the Greyhounds (20-6-1-1) held on for the win over the Spitfires (18-6-1-3). Sarnia 4 London 3 (SO)
At London, Ont., Steven Stamkos scored the shootout winner as the Sting (16-12-0-0) edged the Knights (16-9-0-2). Niagara 6 Erie 4
At Erie, Pa., the IceDogs (15-12-0-1) scored three unanswered goals in a decisive seven and a half minute span of the second period to hand the Otters (4-20-2-1) their fourth straight loss. Kingston at Saginaw, ppd.
At Saginaw, Mich., the game between Kingston and the Spirit was postponed after Frontenac players Jonathan Sciacca and Anthony Peters and assistant trainer Kurt Pearson were hit by a car in Windsor earlier Friday.