Soo, flu hound ’ Dogs
IceDogs battle flu bug in midst of five- game stretch on the road
The sixth- ranked junior hockey team in North America wasn’t the only foe the Niagara IceDogs faced Saturday night in Sault Ste. Marie.
In addition to trying to slow down the aptly named Greyhounds, a flu bug going through the team kept veteran defencemen Elijah Roberts and Johnathon Schaefer out of the lineup.
Two players who did see action in Niagara’s second road game in northern Ontario in as many nights became sick between periods.
“Definitely a gutsy effort against the sixth- ranked national team, but we’re a hurting team right now,” head coach Billy Burke said after the IceDogs dropped a 4- 1 decision for their sixth loss in a row.
The setback notwithstanding, Burke rated his team’s performance against the Soo as “pretty good.”
The ’ Dogs jumped out of the gate and kept pace with the Greyhounds throughout a scoreless first period in which shots favoured the hosts 10- 9.
Niagara also excelled on the penalty kill with the ‘ Hounds finishing the game 0- for- 3 on the power play, and the IceDogs had the edge in winning faceoffs, 30- 23.
“Guys came in and they battled,” Burke said. “A couple of mistakes cost us.”
Hayden Verbeek opened scoring for the hosts with an evenstrength goal 10: 22 into the second period.
But it became a one- all game less than a minute later when Kirill Makismov converted a highlightreel setup pass from Ben Jones for his eighth goal of the season.
The Soo’s Boris Katchouk, taking full advantage of a turnover while his team was defending on the penalty