After watching his team come up just short in defeat to the league-leading Stouffville Spirit last week, Haliburton County Huskies head coach Jordan Bailey said the result was a timely reminder for his players to play consistent hockey for a full 60 minutes.
The blue and white went into the Jan. 8 match-up on a high, riding an 11-game point streak that stretched back to November and included a 3-2 win over the Spirit on home ice Jan. 3.
Stouffville, the top team in the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s East Conference, laid down a marker early-on in last Thursday’s tilt with the Huskies, flying out of the gates in the first to take an early lead. They added two more in the second to put the Huskies in a three-goal hole.
“We made too many mistakes against a good hockey team… a couple guys just didn’t have their best night. When you’re up against these top teams, you can’t be a little sleepy for 40 minutes and expect to have one good period and win,” Bailey said.
During that second intermission, Bailey said he had conversations with some team leaders and shuffled lines around to try and generate a spark. It paid dividends almost immediately
Alternate captain Isaac Larmand notched his team-leading 19th goal of the season five minutes into the final frame, teed up by fellow alternate captain Carson Durnin and Ryan Gosse. The team grew in confidence and created several scoring chances but were stymied by an in-form Hayden Sabourin in the Spirit goal.
With time ticking down, offensive defenseman Ryan Fairbairn – re-acquired by the Huskies last week in a trade with the King Rebellion that sent goalscoring forward Julius Da Silva out of town – made it a one-goal game at 16:24, with Durnin and Gosse assisting again.
Despite a late push the Huskies couldn’t find the tying goal, slumping to a regulation defeat for the first time in 44 days.
Bailey said he was excited to welcome Fairbairn back into the fold – he contributed five points in 17 games for the Huskies last season before a mid-season trade to King – though acknowledged it was tough to lose the 17-year-old Da Silva, who had been a strong offensive contributor with 20 points in 33 games.
“Sometimes you’ve got to give up a good hockey player to get a good hockey player,” Bailey said. “We didn’t really want to trade Ryan last year, but we needed a piece for our playoff run. He’s someone who moves the puck very well and has a lot of skill on the backend but can also play a physical shutdown game.”
Huskies 4-1 St. Mike’s
The Huskies got back to winning ways Jan. 11, putting the St. Michael’s Buzzers to the sword 4-1 in Toronto. Carter Nadon, making a rare appearance in place of usual starter Owen Edwards, made 24 saves in the victory.
It was far from the perfect start, Bailey noted, with St. Mike’s scoring an early go-ahead goal six minutes in. Fairbairn brought the visitors level at 10:18, scoring on the powerplay from Durnin and Mike Mardula. Chase Del Colombo added another, this one shorthanded, at 16:24 from Harrison O’Connor.
The impressive O’Connor got on the scoresheet himself in the middle frame, finding twine at 6:29 from linemates Nic Ferrante and Carter Petrie. That fourth line was at it again before the period was over, Petrie this time turning scorer with assists going to O’Connor and Ferrante.
“Our fourth line was very good again all night. It kind of calms down the bench a little bit knowing that any line can go out there, do a job and make a difference to help the team out,” Bailey said.
With just 16 games remaining in the regular season, the Huskies find themselves comfortably in a playoff position, sitting fifth with 52 points from 40 games – nine more than the Buzzers in sixth. They’re level on points with the fourth-placed Newmarket Hurricanes, one back of the Pickering Panthers in third and six behind the Trenton Golden Hawks in second.
A trip to Trenton is next up on the Huskies schedule, with the two locking horns Jan. 16. Bailey said it will be another big test for his squad.
“We just need to come out and play our brand of hockey, don’t try to change too much. Trenton has a good hockey team, very offensive, so we’ve got to limit their scoring chances, make sure we keep pucks to the outside as much as possible in a small barn. If we can do that, we’ll put ourselves in a good situation,” Bailey said.
The Huskies are back home Jan. 17 when they welcome the Aurora Tigers. Puck drop is 6 p.m.
