Crushers fall to Mariners
Pictou County hosting Edmundston for key matchup tonight at the wellness centre
WESTVILLE ROAD, N.S. — The game turned in a hurry for the Junior A Crushers.
A couple of defensive miscues turned a two-goal lead in the third period into an eventual 6-5 loss against the Yarmouth Mariners on Monday.
Goals from Barrett Dachyshyn, Evan Gallant, Sam Meisenheimer and Isaac Chapman had staked Pictou County to a 4-2 advantage four minutes into the third, and the Crushers were going on the power play, looking to seize firm control at the Pictou County Wellness Centre.
That’s when Logan Timmons pounced on a Crusher giveaway in their own end, and teed up a seeing-eye slapper from the slot for a Mariners’ shorthanded tally.
“That was one was a real deflator for us,” coach Doug Doull said.
Buoyed by that goal, Yarmouth’s Landon Quinney scored twice in a two-minute span to put his team up 5-4, and after Kevin Mason’s game-tying goal at 16:04 on a high wrister from a tough angle, Dachyshyn soon took a marginal cross-checking penalty. Chris Goreham would score the eventual game winner, just after the power play started.
Brent Broaders and Matt Barron also tallied for Yarmouth.
“Yarmouth wasn’t getting on the bus without putting up a fight,” Doull said. “They showed why they’re the best team in our division.”
To make matters worse, the South Shore Lumberjacks went into Summerside on Monday afternoon and beat the powerhouse Western Capitals 7-4. Pictou County has seven games remaining in the regular season and are two points up on South Shore in the South Division standings. The two teams will finish the regular season with a home-and-home series (March 7-8).
The Crushers are at home Feb. 21 to the Edmundston Blizzard, and play Saturday at the Valley Wildcats.
“Complacency kills,” Doull said. “Everybody’s raising their game, and you get nudged out when you don’t level out your game.”