Haliburton County Huskies coach Ryan Ramsay said it’s do-or-die time for his young team this weekend, with their second-round playoff series with the Toronto Jr. Canadiens hanging in the balance.
After an impressive 2-0 victory on the road in game one March 23, the Huskies came crashing back to earth Tuesday evening after a confidence-sapping 3-0 defeat on home ice in Minden.
Taking home first star honours after recording a 40-save shutout in Sunday’s win, goaltender Tyler Hodges let in two of the first three shots he faced on Tuesday, after 11 and 50 seconds. He rebounded well, finishing the game with 32 saves, but with no help at the other end the Huskies slumped to their third defeat in four playoff games at S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena.
“The start was horrible, obviously. You take away that crazy first minute and it’s a decent game. I thought we played OK, but you can’t play OK in the second round against a good team,” Ramsay told The Highlander the morning after the result.
“Shots were pretty even, chances were pretty even, but our powerplay has got to get going,” he added, with the special team going 0-5 in game two after blanking on three opportunities Sunday.
“It’s just one game. In the playoffs, especially against good teams, you’re going to have ups and downs. That’s not the way we wanted to play, but we have to put that out of our minds and focus on winning game three. The series is still there for the taking.”
The Huskies responded well to the U Canadiens’ early onslaught – Tai York, Chase Lefebvre, and Cameron Hankai all had decent opportunities but couldn’t find a way past Amir Valiullin in the JRC net. Alex Bradshaw had a big moment late in the first, dancing around three Toronto defencemen shorthanded, but was dragged to the ground before getting a shot off. There was no call on the play.
JRC killed the game early in the middle frame, Nathan Phillips firing one past Hodges, via defenceman Raine Nadeau’s stick, 36 seconds in. It was a scrappy period with scoring opportunities at a premium, though the Huskies were fortunate Jordan Karafile shot wide with the net open at the seven-minute mark.
It was a parade to the penalty box in the third – Alex Bradshaw served a 10-minute misconduct for head contact, Chase Del Colombo took a two-minute interference minor, Nathan Poole got four minutes for kneeing, and Larmand a minor holding call.
Stefan Forgione came closest to a late consolation, ringing the iron with seconds remaining.
Ramsay said he’s going to mix his lines ahead of game three in Toronto Wednesday – result was unavailable by press time. He noted many of his top players from the regular season are struggling to get going in the playoffs.
“Deandres DeJesus has one assist, he led the team in goals during the regular season but hasn’t scored in eight playoff games. Larmand plays in the top six and is at zero points. Kieran Litterick has one point, Poole and Bradshaw only have two. Declan Bowmaster is a skilled guy, but he’s been quiet.
“If we’re only scoring one goal a game, or no goals like last night, we’re not going to win. We’ve got to start scoring goals,” Ramsay said. “We’ve just got to get to the net, put pressure on their goalie. Rebounds have been there through two games. We’ve got to get to the dirty areas and make the notso-pretty plays. That’s how you find success in the playoffs.”
Huskies 2-0 JRC
It was the blue and white that started strongest in Sunday’s series-opener, a 2-0 win in Toronto.
York had the first goal 4:19 into the first, potting his sixth of the post-season on assists from Hankai and Ty Petrou. The team’s defence took over from there, shutting down JRC for long stretches of the game. When they did get through, Hodges was a brick wall, recording 15 saves in the first, 13 in the second, and 12 in the third.
Petrou added some gloss to the scoreline with an unassisted empty netter with 38 seconds left on the clock.
“With the series tied, we have a great chance still to show who we are and do what we need to do to win. It’s in our hands,” Ramsay said.
Game four will be in Minden March 29, puck drop at 4 p.m., with game five in Toronto March 30. If needed, the teams will return to Minden for game six April 1, puck drop at 7 p.m., with game seven in the city April 2.
