The Haliburton County Huskies have it all to do in their third-round playoff series with the Trenton Golden Hawks, down two games to the nation’s top-ranked Jr. A team.
After earning their spot in the East Conference championship series by defeating the Toronto Jr. Canadiens 4-2 at Haliburton’s A.J. LaRue Arena April 3, the Huskies twice teed off against the team that finished 16 points ahead of them in the regular season – dropping a 5-4 overtime decision on the road April 6 and losing a heartbreaker 2-1 in front of their home fans April 8.
Watching his side go toe-to-toe with the Golden Hawks this week, Huskies coach Ryan Ramsay believes the series is far from done.
“It’s been tight, two close games, we’ve just got to find a way to win the next one. Thursday is must-win. Then we’d have a chance to come back home, wrestle back the momentum,” Ramsay said. “One area we need to improve is putting more pucks on net. I don’t think we’ve shot enough the last two games.”
The County club rallied from behind to topple JRC in the second-round four games to two, and swapped games with Trenton during the regular season, with each winning twice. The Huskies are one of two teams, along with JRC, to beat the Golden Hawks more than once this year.
Playing in unfamiliar surroundings in Haliburton again on Tuesday, with S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena continuing to serve as a warming centre for Minden residents impacted by last week’s ice storm, the Huskies tried to wrestle control early.
While outshot 14-9 in the opening frame, forwards Nathan Poole, Tai York and Ty Petrou – the team’s top line – were busy, constantly disrupting the visitor’s momentum with an aggressive forecheck. Tyler Hodges was a brick wall at the back, making several big saves.
Forward Daniel Vasic, replacing the injured Alex Bradshaw in the lineup, had a prime opportunity for the first goal when found all alone at the back post three minutes into the middle frame, though fired right at Golden Hawks netminder Ryan Sanborn.
Hodges kept the score level after a Kaiden Thatcher head contact penalty at 10:09 put the Huskies on the penalty kill, making five saves – the highlight a sprawling dive to keep Golden Hawks dangerman David Fournier, the game-winner in overtime on Sunday, at bay.
Declan Bowmaster blew the roof off the building with 13:53 played, beating Sanborn high after capitalizing on a loose puck in the high slot. Chase Lefebvre went close a minute later, though fired off target while being closed down by a Trenton body.
Despite their best efforts, the home side couldn’t close the period out, Jaxon Broda tying things at 19:31.
Things were tight in the third and though the crowd tried to get behind their team, with cries of “Go Huskies Go” reverberating through the arena, it was Taeo Artichuk, unassisted at 16:10, who won the game for the Golden Hawks.
“We were unlucky on that goal – the puck hits the metal in the glass and takes a crazy bounce to an open guy in front of the net. It’s the sort of thing that wouldn’t happen again if you tried it 100 times,” Ramsay said. “At this stage, every team is really good. You’ve just got to have some luck, have some bounces go your way.”
Trenton 5-4 Huskies
The two teams put on a goalscoring clinic in Trenton on Sunday, with the Golden Hawks edging a tight 5-4 game.
York got the series underway with his eighth of the post-season three quarters of the way into the opening frame, assisted by Poole and Petrou, but Trenton responded with three straight – through Broda, Artichuk and Fournier – to take control late in the second. Petrou kept things interesting with a powerplay marker, his seventh of the playoffs, at 18:52 assisted by York and OJHL Defenseman of the Year nominee Cameron Hankai.
Chase Del Colombo tied the game 50 seconds into the final frame, though the Huskies joy was short-lived, with Cooper Matthews beating Hodges just 45 seconds later. Petrou sent the game to overtime with his second of the game at 17:32.
Fournier ended things seven minutes into the extra frame, sneaking the puck past the impressive Hodges, who made 40 saves in his 13th appearance of the post-season.
Huskies 4-2 JRC
The noise was deafening at the final buzzer April 3 after the Huskies clinched their second-round series with the Toronto Jr. Canadiens. Hodges made 46 saves in a 4-2 win.
After a quiet start to the playoffs Poole exploded during the opening period against JRC, scoring at 3:48 and 8:40 to put the home side ahead. They didn’t look back – though Gabriel Ciarallo pegged the Huskies back late in the first, Petrou helped himself to the eventual game-winner four minutes into the middle frame, with Lefebvre adding an empty-netter with a little over two minutes left in the third.
Conner Thomson-Dick made the scoreline a little more respectable, beating Hodges with 17 seconds left on the clock.
The Huskies travel to Trenton for game three April 10, before returning to Haliburton for game four April 12 at A.J. LaRue Arena. Puck drop is 4 p.m.
If needed, game five will be back in Trenton April 13, game six in Haliburton April 15, and game seven in Trenton April 17.
