MacLeod back in the net as Crushers face Miramichi
Fresh off a 34-save night in a loss to the Amherst Ramblers last weekend, goaltender Andrew MacLeod will again be tasked with getting the Junior A Crushers back in the win column.
“We’ve got to go back to the guy who gave us a chance to win in Amherst,” said coach Doug Doull. “He did everything he could do for us, but we could only get him one goal. On five-on-threes, he’s been our best penalty killer.”
The Crushers, who had their losing streak stretched to 12 with a pair of losses last week, will see the Miramichi Timberwolves make their only visit to the Pictou County Wellness Centre (PCWC) this season on Thursday at 7 p.m.
“They’re young, pretty quick and they’ve got a veteran goaltender (Tanner Somers),” Doull said of the T-Wolves. “And they compete.”
Junior hockey teams would rather not rely on an 18-year goaltender to be the Number 1 guy, but MacLeod so far has looked the part.
“He’s making a lot of big time saves when we need him to,” said co-captain Evan MacLennan, who played a year of Midget hockey with MacLeod.
“He can steal a game for you, he reads the play really well and he’s been a top goalie in any league he’s been in.”
Saturday at Amherst Stadium, Pictou County suffered yet another one-goal loss, this time a 2-1 defeat. Barrett Dachyshyn had the only goal for the Crushers, set up by Evan Gallant.
Bradley Dawe broke a 1-1 tie with 2:02 left in the game to send the Crushers home emptyhanded. On Oct. 18 at the PCWC, the Yarmouth Mariners dumped the Crushers 5-2. Dylan Riley scored both Crusher goals, who entered the third period tied 2-2 with Yarmouth before the Mariners scored three times to win going away.
After they play Miramichi, the Crushers are at the South Shore Lumberjacks on Friday for a 7 p.m. contest. Despite being last in the Maritime Hockey League’s South Division, the team remainsl upbeat.
“The mood is actually pretty good,” MacLennan said. “Some people probably don’t think we’d be like this, but everybody’s in and wants to work hard.
“We want to stop the number of losses where they’re at right now, and start winning. We want to try to take off and get ahead of it.”