Oh, so close again
Dogged determination not enough to defeat No. 1 team rankings
Eight. One. Four.
Those are the Canadian Hockey League rankings of the three opponents the Niagara IceDogs were scheduled to play over a five-day period this week.
By the time the final buzzer sounds Saturday night in Sarnia, Niagara will have played the Kitchener Rangers, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyounds as well as the Sarnia Sting.
A tough stretch that IceDogs head coach Billy Burke described as a “murderers row” began Tuesday night in Kitchener, where Niagara deserved a much better fate than a 3-1 loss to the Rangers.
It continued Thursday night at home, with the highly regarded Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds making their only visit to Meridian Centre in league play, skating away with a 4-3 victory.
The top team in CHL rankings almost from the start of the season had to work for those two points, though. Sault Ste. Marie allowed three unanswered goals in the third period to hold on for the win.
“Another close game against a top team, it shows we’re right there,” Burke said after the IceDogs lost their fifth in a row.
He suggested the invaluable experience of competing against some of the top teams in junior in the CHL can only help Niagara going forward.
“It’s adversity, but it will make us be better in the long run,” Burke said. “To go through a gauntlet like this, it’s only going to pay off in the long run.”
The IceDogs, well into the second year of a rebuild after advancing to the league championship final, get the best when they play the best.
“We don’t catch anyone by surprise,” Burke said. “Other teams might catch the Sault or Kitchener napping, but they’re ready for us, they’re there for us.”
An even-strength marker from Sault Ste. Marie’s Morgan Frost Star of the game: Sault Ste. Marie forward Boris Katchouk, with a goal and two assists
Scoring for Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds: Morgan Frost (31), (32) PP, Boris Katchouk (34), penalty shot; Barrett Hayton (18). Scoring for Niagara IceDogs: William Lochead (3), Sam Miletic (28), Kirill Maksimov (28)
15:39 into game accounted for all the scoring in the first period. Shots on net were 12-10 in favour of the Greyhounds.
Boris Katchouk scored on a penalty shot to put the visitors up 2-0 after his previous shot on IceDogs goaltender Stephen Dhillon was ruled no goal following a video review.
The Greyhounds headed into the third period leading 3-0 after Frost netted his second of the night, this time on the power play.
Sault Ste. Marie outshot Niagara Goaltending, shots-saves: Sault
St. Marie, Matthew Villalta, 36-33; Niagara, Stephen Dhillon, 35-31 Power play, goals-chances: Sault Ste. Marie; 2-4, Niagara, 0-5 Penalties, in minutes: Sault Ste. Marie, 12; Niagara, 10
Attendance at Meridian Centre: 5,300, sellout
Next games for Niagara: Saturday, at Sarnia Sting, 7:05 p.m.; Sunday, at Windsor Spitfires, 2:05 p.m.; Friday, Feb. 16, home to Owen Sound Attack, 7 p.m.
14-9 in the middle frame.
Barrett Hayton, for the’Hounds, and William Lochead, with his third of the season for the ’Dogs, traded goals to start the third period.
With 5:34 remaining in regulation, Sam Miletic cut the deficit to two with his 12th goal as an IceDog and 28th overall.
With Dhillon pulled for an extra attacker and 46 seconds left on the clock, Kirill Maksimov made it a one-goal game with his 28th of the campaign.
On Tuesday, in a homecoming for former Blueshirts blue-liner Elijah Roberts, the IceDogs beat eighthranked Kitchener everywhere except on the scoreboard. They outshot the Rangers 45-39, won more faceoffs, 38-31, and shut out one of the Ontario Hockey League’s highest-scoring team on the power play.
However, winning wasn’t in the cards as Kitchener bench boss Jay McKee was once again able to play his ace in the hole, goaltender Mario Culina.
For the second time in as many starts against Niagara, the overager earned first-star honours. In the first meeting, Jan. 17 in St. Catharines, he stopped 34 shots for his first shutout of the season.
Though frustrating, and definitely disappointing, oh-so-close setbacks to the Rangers and, in the game before that, to the Kingston Frontenacs, another team loaded for a Memorial Cup run, should help a young IceDogs team over the long run.
Niagara came into Thursday night’s game hoping to snap a fourgame losing streak, while Sault Ste. Marie was seeking its seventh win in a row.
The 27-17-4-3 IceDogs entered Thursday trailing the Central Division-leading Barrie Colts, 30-182-1, by four points.
The first-ranked Greyhounds, 435-2-1, lead No. 4 Sarnia, 36-12-4-0, in the West Division.
With 16 to 19 games remaining in the 68-game regular season, Sault Ste. Marie and Sarnia are so far the only teams clinching playoff berths.
Non-conference opponents only play each other twice in league play. The Greyhounds, who play in the Western Conference, skated to a 4-1 victory over the Eastern Conference IceDogs Nov. 4 in Sault Ste. Marie.
The weekly CHL rankings released Wednesday had the Greyhounds first, the Sting fourth, the Rangers No. 8, up from ninth the week before, and the Hamilton Bulldogs ninth, down two spots.
Rounding out this week’s top 10 are three teams from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League — Blainville-Boisbrand, 3; Halifax, 6; Drummondville, 7 — and three from the Western Hockey League — Moose Jaw, 2; Swift Current, 5; Everett, Wash., 10.
’Dog Biscuits: Billy Constantinou, D, Kyle Langdon, C, serving the second-game of an eight-game suspension for kneeing; and Ian Martin, RW, were out of the IceDogs lineup … Thorold native and Colorado Avalanche draft pick Conor Timmins had six goals and 29 assists in 30 games patrolling the blue-line for the Greyhounds this season. He was out of the lineup recovering from a lower-body injury … Blue-liner Mac Hollowell, a Niagara Falls native, has 10 goals and 35 assists in 46 games in his third full season on Sault Ste. Marie … Timmins, fellow Thorold native Langdon, both in street clothes, joined Thorold Mayor Ted Luciani at centre ice for a ceremonial faceoff … The Greyhounds have nine NHL draft picks, the IceDogs three … Performing the national anthem were students from Pathway Academy and Early Learning Centre.