The 2023/24 KIJHL playoffs are officially underway, but after two losses on home ice at the hands of the Columbia Valley Rockies, the Kimberley Dynamiters will need to re-focus before heading into games three and four on the road.
Friday’s game got off to a decent start, with Parker Konneke getting the first goal of the Dynamiters’ post season five minutes into the first. The Dynamiters moved the puck around well all period and successfully killed their four penalties.
Late-season Australian import Riley Langille tacked on another in the second, and the Nitros looked to have things under control, playing good defence heading into the third, but the momentum began shifting in the Rockies’ favour and they capitalized early in the third period, and followed it up with another to tie things up.
“We just stopped skating in the third, I think we tried too much to play defence and hold on to that lead, got way too passive and stopped moving our feet and they took advantage,” said Derek Stuart, head coach and general manager.
Ultimately it came down to an overtime goal from Columbia Valley’s Teo Fath and the Dynamiters were down 1-0 in the series. A brawl following the winning goal resulted in a three-game suspension for Dynamiter Justin Sommer.
The energy from Friday’s came persisted into Saturday night, with three penalties to each team in each of the scoreless first two periods of play.
“Our penalty kill is working really well,” Stuart said. “For my liking, for playoff hockey, there’s been way too many penalties in the first two games, on both sides. You start the game with three penalties each in the first period, probably was really only one each, so it’s tough to play a playoff style game when you’re getting a lot of penalties called both ways, it just ruins the flow of the game.”
In the first two games of the playoffs there were 21 minor penalties called.
The Nitros kicked it into gear in the third period and started to look like they were taking control of the ice, but the first goal of the night was scored with just seven minutes left in the third by the Rockies’ Bryan Kim, and it would prove to be the game winner.
“Tough one to lose it on,” Stuart said. “Slap shot to our goalie’s face, who is clearly hurt in our play.” Goaltender Matt Fleet, who lost a tooth in the regular season, had another tooth knocked out on this play.
“That’s supposed to be blown down immediately and I’m pretty sure I heard a whistle long before the puck went in,” Stuart added.
While it may have been a tough way to lose the game, there’s no question that the Rockies came to play.
“They were only four points behind us in the regular season, they are a legit contender,” Stuart said. “There’s two divisions in our league that third place team could win the Teck Cup easily, so we’re not taking these guys lightly. They’re a good hockey team, they were in first place for most of the year I believe in our division.”
Stuart added that if the Dynamiters can play like they did in the third period of game two, they can look to control the play in game three. Trey Stephenson, who was named Best Defenceman at the Dynamiters post-season awards ceremony, agreed.
“I thought it kind of clicked in the third there, it just took us six periods to get there,” Stephenson said. “I mean, we’re in a little bit of a lull right now and that’s the only positive we can really take away is that third, but it doesn’t really matter. We still lost, so we’ve got to find a way to bounce back.”
Stephenson played well throughout both games, skating hard and putting his body in the way of a lot of his opponents’ shots. He was a bit dejected after the game, but knows his team has faced adversity in the past and knows what it will take to bounce back.
“I thought it kind of clicked in the third there, it took us six periods to get there. I mean, we’re in a little bit of a lull right now and that’s the only positive we can really take away is that third, but it doesn’t really matter. We still lost, so we’ve got to find a way to bounce back.
“Especially with the core from last year, we’ve been through it, but we’ve just got to figure it out with the group and reset.”
The Dynamiters now head to Columbia Valley on Monday, Feb. 24 and Tuesday, Feb. 27 for games three and four.