All good things must come to an end, as the saying goes. The Kimberley Dynamiters were on a seven game winning streak that came to an end in the opening seconds of the first period of overtime in their Saturday-night contest against the Creston Valley Thunder Cats.
"I think getting seven straight home games in a row definitely helped get us some momentum," said head coach Derek Stuart. "I go back to that game in Merritt, the way we came back and won gave us some momentum heading into that homestand and it was overdue.
"We should have probably lost on Friday, to be honest and then should have won on Saturday, so points-wise we’ll take the three out of four points, but the way we played overall on the weekend needs to get better."
The weekend action started off with the Nitros welcoming the Williams Lake Mustangs. Although the Dynamiters came away with a 5-3 victory, Stewart felt as though they could have done a lot better, particularly in how they started the game.
"We need to have better starts. Our start Saturday was fantastic, it was the best start of a game for us all season by a mile, but previous to Saturday our starts have been bad," he said. "We got outright dominated in the first period on Friday against Williams Lake and that can’t happen, against anyone. Our starts need to be a lot better, our power play needs to be a lot better and we need to take a lot less penalties than we’re taking."
The Mustangs took an early 1-0 lead and held it until two minutes into the third period, when Dynamiters assistant captain Tyler Linda scored his first goal of the season to tie things up and start a flurry of scoring. New recruit Jake Briltz then got his first of the season just over a minute later, and Lindal scored his second, a shorthanded goal, two minutes after that.
The Mustangs tacked on another before assistant captain Nick Hughes answered right back. Williams Lake's Asher Lucas got his second goal of the night, adding some late-game pressure, but Nate Murdoch was able to bury one with 30 seconds left on the clock and secure the win.
"Any time you go on a winning streak, with six or seven wins in a row is going help with confidence, but I think in our case, it maybe made them a little too confident, especially with the Williams Lake game," Stewart said.
"That was a team where we should have controlled the game the entire time, not have to get the winner with four minutes left in the game. They just need to focus on our hockey and regardless of who our opponent is we need to prepare the same way every night."
Saturday was a different story: instead of a weak start and strong finish, the Dynamiters had a fantastic start, but weren't able to finish strong.
After a strong back and forth, Hughes was able to open the scoring with his sixth goal of the season. His recent play has succinctly demonstrated why he was made one of the assistant captains for this season.
"Nick’s been outstanding," Stewart said. "I believe he’s been on a 10 or 11-game point streak, he’s definitely a difference-maker every time he’s on the ice and he’s getting some good looks and making some good plays with the puck. For me he’s been our best defence man since the start of the season until now."
The first period ended with a 2-1 lead for the Nitros, courtesy of a late goal from Pittsburgh, PA. product Billy Kiray.
The only goals scored in the second came from Creston and the Nitros were on their heals heading into the third. Jackson Murphy would then tie things back up two minutes in, the second of the season for the Calgary-born D man.
"Jackson Murphy played outstanding on the weekend, he was probably our best player overall in the two games and coming back from a slight injury he’s performed fantastic and back to the level that we expect from him," Stewart said.
Murphy's goal sent the game to overtime, but it was ended in a mere 13 seconds by Creston's Sidney Brill and the Dynamiters' winning streak was no more. Stewart said the biggest thing they need to work on, in terms of starting better, is mental.
"It’s a mental thing for sure," he said. "Saturday, our start was fantastic, so whatever they did to prepare Saturday they just need to do that again and again and again and just go from there. Playing close to a full 60 minutes just hasn’t been in our game since probably the Beaver Valley game.
"We played two good periods on the weekend and ended up with three out of four points, so again we’ll bank those points, because they are important, but the way we’re playing isn’t sustainable and it’s going to come back to bite us sooner or later."
Unfortunately the team doesn't have much time to work on anything, as their next game is on Tuesday, Oct. 28 against Columbia Valley.
"Ideally I’d like to not have a game on Tuesday coming up here and we could practice hard Monday and practice hard Tuesday, but that’s the way the schedule is," Stewart said. "We’ve got to just do a pre-game practice tonight, a short quick one where we’re just getting some touches and working on the power play a little bit. We’ll get back to work next week in terms of sorting some things out."
After their two games in Columbia Valley, the Dynamiters will be back in the Civic Centre on SAturday, Nov. 2 with a chance for redemption against the Creston Valley Thunder Cats.
