The Haliburton County Huskies missed a chance to leapfrog the Newmarket Hurricanes into third place in the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s east conference this week, dropping a 4-3 decision to their fellow contender Feb. 10.
The blue and white got off to a great start in the road tilt, racing out to an early 2-0 lead courtesy of goals from Ryan Gosse, notching on the powerplay at 4:30, and Kieran Raynor, tickling twine at 11:17.
The Huskies were dominant in that opening frame, rallying off 18 shots to Newmarket’s nine, but the home side got back into the game with a tally late in the period, swinging momentum back in their favour.
Newmarket restored parity four minutes into the second, but the visitors didn’t let that phase them – Isaac Larmand helped himself to his 22nd goal of the season and third point of the game, after assisting on the first two goals, to put the Huskies ahead again at 7:36.
It was a difficult third period for the Huskies, who were boxed into their own zone for long periods. They were outshot 17 to three, giving up two late goals to a Newmarket team that could smell blood.
“I think we have to do a much better job at closing these kind of games out. We did all the right things to put ourselves in a position to win… we just got away from what we were doing right,” said head coach Jordan Bailey. “Our defence weren’t moving pucks north and our forwards needed to chip more pucks into their zone. We tried to force too many plays, which, against a good team, allows them to counter and generate momentum.”
One positive for the visitors was having alternate captain Kaiden Thatcher back in the lineup after he missed Saturday’s win over the Burlington Cougars to play for the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes.
In his first major junior appearance of the season, Thatcher was a plus-one, had a shot on goal and was assessed a twominute minor in the Petes’ 3-2 win over the Owen Sound Attack.
Bailey said Thatcher is the latest of several Huskies to be called up to the OHL this season, following teammates Luis Sturgeon and Kieran Raynor in Peterborough and Easton Poe with the North Bay Battalion.
“Anytime we get that call and one of our players can make the jump, it’s a good thing. We’re a development league. Our job is to try to help players get to the next level. So, we’re happy anytime we get the call because it means we’re doing something right. And it’s always a great experience for those guys – they always come back a little more energized,” Bailey said.
Huskies 7 Burlington 4
The home crowd at S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena were treated to a scoring spectacle Feb. 5 as the Huskies locked horns with the west conference’s Burlington Cougars for the first time this season.
Gosse and Josh Denes each helped themselves to a pair of goals, with Chase Del Colombo, Brody Coe and Liam Oravsky also getting on the scoreboard. Twelve different Huskies put up points in the effort, with Owen Edwards backstopping the team to an important win – stopping 29 of 33 shots.
“Burlington had won 10 of their last 11 games, so were on a hot streak coming in. They played the night before in Collingwood, so we knew we had to jump all over them early and have a good start. We were able to do that and that really helped us settle in and earn the two points,” Bailey said.
With the OJHL regular season winding down, the Huskies have a gruelling run over the next couple of weeks. They play six games in 10 days, starting with a road tilt in Stouffville Feb. 12. The Huskies then host the Wellington Dukes Feb. 14 and Pickering Panthers Feb. 16 – teams immediately around them in the standings.
The blue and white then play the North York Rangers Feb. 17, Lindsay Muskies Feb. 20 and Markham Royals Feb. 21.
Currently sitting fifth in the east, two points back of both the Panthers and Hurricanes, Bailey said it’s in his team’s hands whether they can secure home ice advantage in the first round of playoffs.
“We have two games in hand on Newmarket and are level with Pickering, though we do play them, so we do control our own fate,” Bailey said. “This will be a good test for us. We’ve been playing a lot of hockey as of late and this is a heavy run coming up too. Every game [is like a game seven] at this point, with everyone jostling for position. The message to the guys is to dig in, stay the course and keep doing what’s gotten us here so far.
“This run is a great test because there will be a lot of backto-backs come playoffs. It’s very rare you get two days off before a game in the post-season, so this is an opportunity to get up to speed early,” Bailey said.
