Haliburton County Huskies leading goalscorer Isaac Larmand says he and his teammates are going into every game believing they can win after a week that saw them topple one of the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s (CJHL) top-ranked teams.
The blue and white shocked the Trenton Golden Hawks on the road Jan. 16, besting the nation’s ninth-ranked junior hockey franchise 4-2 in what Larmand called a statement win.
“We went in there knowing our systems. I think the game [on Friday] was very similar to a lot of playoff games we played last year against them. We just went in knowing what we had to do, worked hard, played physical and did all the little things right against a very skilled team,” Larmand said.
The Huskies had been largely outplayed in previous tilts with the Golden Hawks this season – a 6-1 loss in Trenton Sept. 19 and a 3-2 defeat on home ice Oct. 4.
Playing in front of a capacity crowd, with a posted attendance of 639 people, the Huskies stood up to some early pressure, with the Golden Hawks buoyed by a red-hot atmosphere in the stands.
Nate Taylor delivered a defining moment late in the first, opening the scoring at 18:51 for his sixth goal of the season, assisted by Larmand and Ronen Macfarlane.
Having a lead to protect going into the second helped calm some nerves, Larmand said, with the Huskies locking in for more of the same in the middle frame. Strong defensive play in the early going stymied one of the league’s best offensive outfits. Midway through the period, the Huskies were afforded a powerplay opportunity, which forward Ryan Gosse dispatched at 13:11, for his 14th of the year. Assists went to Carson Durnin, for his team-leading 27th apple, and Brody Coe, who notched his 12th helper as a Husky.
Visiting netminder Owen Edwards was impenetrable through two periods, turning away all 24 saves he faced.
Trenton rallied in the third, scoring early to make it a one-goal game, but that was as good as it got for them, with the Huskies showing no mercy in a ruthless display of attacking precision. Christopher Brydges made it 3-1 at 9:10, notching on the powerplay from Chase Del Colombo and Jack Cook, with Nic Ferrante potting a fourth at 14:32 from Gosse and Josh Denes.
Trenton added a late consolation, but the Huskies dug in to make sure of the win.
“We’ve got lots of confidence and feel like we can beat any team in the league,” Larmand said.
Huskies 6 Aurora 2
Returning to S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena on Saturday, the Huskies completely dominated the Aurora Tigers in a 6-2 win.
The game was a memorable one for rookie forward Kieran Raynor, who recorded a hat-trick in his third game back with the Huskies after a stint playing with the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes.
Raynor helped himself to two powerplay goals to kickstart the scoring, also scoring the team’s fifth goal in the second period. Other tallies went to Larmand – the first Husky to reach the 20-goal threshold this season – Taylor and Durnin. Carter Nadon backstopped the Huskies to the win, making 26 saves.
With those wins, the Huskies are now in a three-way tie for third place – level on points with the Newmarket Hurricanes and Pickering Panthers, while only four back of the Golden Hawks in second and five behind the East Conference’s top team, the Stouffville Spirit.
With 14 games remaining in the regular season, Larmand said the team’s focus is finishing as strong as possible to build momentum heading into playoffs.
“We’re only a few points out of first place and we still have to play Stouffville twice. So, the ball is in our court,” Larmand said.
It’s a reverse double-header this coming weekend, with the Huskies travelling to Aurora Jan. 23 and hosting Trenton Jan. 24. Puck drop in Minden is 4 p.m.
