Kings split weekend games, drop to second place
After a sound pummelling of Brampton, Elmira unable to keep the pace in loss to first-place Listowel
THE ELMIRA SUGAR KINGS have just four regular season games left to inch back into first place after a win and a loss on the weekend and a 5-1 loss in Kitchener on Tuesday night.
A three-goals-per-period flow paced the Elmira team to a 9-3 victory over the Brampton Bombers on Feb. 10.
“I thought we were doing the little things really well. We had a little bit of an eight, nine minute lapse that they scored a couple quick goals on us but other than that I thought the little things were getting done from everybody in the line-up,” said head coach Ty Canal.
Keanan Stewart, Mitch Hoelscher and Jake Brown each knocked a puck in the net in the first period. Zack Cameron, Anthony Azzano, Brown, Austin Ulett, Ethan Skinner and Hoelscher picked up the assists.
It was much of the same in the second as Mitch Hoelscher, Quinten Bruce and Cameron brought the tally to 6-0 for Elmira heading into the final frame. Brown, Skinner, Stewart, Bruce and Spencer Comelli assisted.
The Kings pulled ahead to 7-0 with a goal from Skinner (Hoelscher, Brown), before Brampton finally found some momentum and scored three times on Tyler Mazzocato in less than four minutes. Bombers goals came from Jarret Woon Sam (Rico Rossi, Andrew Borgatti) and Deaglan Small (2), helped in by Dante Sheriff (2) and Brandan Fisher (2).
Hoelscher (Brown, Skinner) added his third of the night to earn him a hat trick and Bruce (Skinner, Cameron) sunk Elmira’s ninth to close out the game.
Mazzocato made 43 saves compared to the Brampton goalies’ combined 25 saves.
At home on Sunday the Kings couldn’t recover from Listowel’s 4-0 lead. Canal notes they’ve had some good battles
with Listowel this season, including beating them in their own barn the last time they met.
The Cyclones started scoring in the first with goals from Jakob Lee (Holdyn Lansink, Riley Robertson) and Jamie Huber (Cullen Mercer, Lee). They added another two by 5:04 in the second from Tommy Hoogars (Blake Nichol) and Brady Anderson (Nichol and Hoogars).
“They’re a team that works hard and competes and is coached well. They play hard and that was something that we knew we were going to have to match and you just can’t give up opportunities.
Those types of teams are going to capitalize on them, especially when we’re getting away from not just systems, but the way that we want to play,” Canal said.
Elmira’s Comelli put his team on the board in the second on a long shot, assisted by Brown. Hoogars added his second goal of the night later in the period, helped by Anderson and Chayse Herrfort.
Listowel’s Anderson (Nichol, Chet Phllips) added one more in the third and Elmira’s Andrew McIntyre and Bruce (Klayton Hoelscher) added two for the Kings, but it was too late in the game.
Jon Reinhart made 31 saves for Elmira.
The Kings spent 40 minutes in the penalty box, which changes momentum.
“It changes the ice time, you lose that consistent flow and you lose that type of the mindset of going from offense to defence having to worry about those little things and I thought Listowel did a lot better job blocking shots too, I noticed. When you’re killing penalties and blocking shots, it’s tough to get momentum because you’re always chasing,” Canal said.
“I think this is good for us, to see how our guys rebound and see how they come together and hopefully we can get playing the way we want to. We gave up too many shots again and that’s something we definitely need to get under control,” Canal said ahead of Tuesday night’s game.
On Tuesday night the Kings faced off against the Kitchener Dutchmen, where Valentine’s Day provided a loss, not roses and chocolates.
The Kings will visit the Waterloo Siskins for a 7:30 p.m. matchup on Feb. 18. They’re home for a 2 p.m. game against Kitchener on Feb. 20, Family Day, at the Woolwich Memorial Centre.