Nerves may have been to blame for what can only be called the worst first period of hockey the Dynamiters have played in some time, but they were able to pull it together and played their game for the final two periods, ending up with a clutch 3-2 win in the first game of their playoff series against Golden.
“I think everyone in the rink knows that was maybe our worst period since Christmas, but the boys battled back hard,” said Derek Stuart, head coach and general manager. “But yeah if we play like we did in the first we’re going to be in a lot of trouble.”
He said nerves could certainly have been a factor at the start of the first playoff game, as only two of his teammates have played a playoff game in the KIJHL before, but fatigue was definitely at play as well.
After a huge weekend where they won their last two games of the regular season, their bus had some problems on the way back from Castlegar and they didn’t get home until 4:30 a.m.
“That’s not an excuse, because we found our legs and did what we needed to do in the second and third, but I think those things — the nerves and a little bit of fatigue and playing on a Tuesday after we just had a hard weekend — it came into play,” Stuart said. “But they battled through and they worked hard and it definitely wasn’t our best game by any stretch of the imagination, but again they did what they needed to do to get the job done.”
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The game started off with Golden scoring a short-handed goal four and a half minutes into the first, and then scoring their second a few minutes later. The Rockets played with a lot of energy and simply looked like they wanted it more.
Particularly in the last half of the season, the Rockets played aggressive hockey against the Dynamiters and the games were rife with penalties. Tuesday’s game was no exception. However, after Golden got back to back penalties for interference and then a head contact with a 10-minute misconduct, the Nitros were uncharacteristically unable to capitalize on the five-on-three power play.
Fortunately Christian Mealey was able to put one in the back of the net with five minutes left in the first, and the team began to steady the ship.
“I think the guys just took it upon themselves to work harder and get their feet moving in the second period.” Stuart said. We had a ton of scoring chances in the second period, their goalie played fantastic tonight. There’s nothing much to say when you’re down two nothing early, the boys know that it’s not acceptable and their play was not acceptable, so they took it upon themselves to change that.”
There were no goals in the second period, but the Dynamiters began to rain down the shots on goal and it seemed only a matter of time until one dropped. The second also saw four penalties to the Dynamiters and three to the Rockets, with plenty of tension throughout.
Cash Regan scored a great power play goal six and half minutes into the third to tie up the game. Then when it was looking like the game was likely to go to overtime, the Dynamiters’ top scorer Austin Daniels drilled home the game winner with less than a minute left in the game.
“I guess that’s what my teammates have come to expect of me throughout the year and I’m just happy to be able to contribute by putting up a few goals,” Daniels said. “But again, couldn’t do that without them. It was a beautiful pass from Jayden Kostiuk down there that set me up so just fortunate to be getting the bounces.”
Daniels, the 20-year-old assistant captain from Yellowknife, NWT, really stepped up for the team after captain Ryan Bennett was injured early in the season, scoring 22 goals and getting 14 assists.
“Austin’s been a great leader and I really think he’s been one of our best players all season, especially since Christmas,” Stuart said. “On that winning goal he did what we needed him to do coming back through the middle and intercepted a clearing pass and put it deep, went to the net hard and was ready for the puck so guys like that when they do things like that they’re going to get scoring chances and he found a way to get it by their goalie.”
From a player standpoint, Daniels also agreed that that first period was not what they were looking for, and like Stuart, owed it mainly to nerves as many of the guys are new to playoff hockey at this level. He thinks this too contributed to the Nitros getting a lot more time in the box, when they’ve been better at avoiding trouble against Golden later in the season.
“It’s always a little bit frustrating when a team is playing tough on you especially if you’re not getting the calls you think you should get, but again it’s just nerves,” he said. “They took advantage of us being on our toes at the start there, so we got that out of the way and managed to get it done at the end.”
Now that they know what to expect and with first-game nerves out of the way, Daniels said the team will be better off heading into their Wednesday night game, at home again at 7 p.m.
paul.rodgers@kimberleybulletin
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