Haliburton County Huskies head coach Jordan Bailey felt his young side played “one of our best games this year” after taming the visiting Aurora Tigers in Minden Oct. 18.
The blue and white rallied after two early goals put them in a hole, beating the Tigers 4-3 in a back-and-forth game at S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena. The win was sandwiched between a pair of defeats – a 3-1 drubbing by the Pickering Panthers Oct. 17 and a double overtime 1-0 loss to the Toronto Patriots Oct. 21.
Bailey said he’s been preaching to his team the importance of playing a consistent 60 minutes of hockey and believes he got that last weekend against Aurora.
“The message is that no matter what the score is, let’s not waver from what we need to do. Our guys were able to do that. As far as a full 60 minutes go, that was one of our best games this year – and that’s a better Aurora team,” Bailey said. “I was really happy with the way we played and the way we stuck to the game plan.”
It was another slow start for the Huskies on Saturday, who gave the Tigers a two-goal head start in the early going – Anrijs Bundzenieks made it 1-0 just 85 seconds in, with Simon Howard doubling the advantage at 5:42.
Some fans were already making their way to the concession stand late in the first when Ryan Gosse notched his sixth of the year at 19:12, assisted by Julius Da Silva and Ronen Macfarlane. Cristian Giancola made it a chaotic end to the period, tallying the equalizer at 19:48, assisted by Da Silva and Gosse.
Declan Bowmaster fired his fifth goal in four games on the powerplay 1:22 into the middle frame, with Chase Del Colombo and Oliver Tang registering assists on the play. Harrison O’Connor then added his second of the year 11:58 into the third, assisted by Alex Rossi. That stood up as the game-winner after Bundzenieks gave Aurora hope with his second goal at 15:51.
After the game, Bailey was asked what changes he made in the first to swing momentum back to the Huskies.
“I don’t think we made any changes – it was just repeating what we had talked about before the game, which was the need to play a consistent 60 minutes, not worrying too much about outside noise or where we are in the standings. Just continue to build and create more consistent habits.
“Whenever you have a young team, it’s very easy to revert back to old habits. So we’re trying to make sure we do not do that anymore,” Bailey said.
Disappointing defeats
Bailey described the Oct. 17 loss in Pickering as one of the Huskies’ “worst games systematically.”
The team found themselves behind after just 51 seconds and didn’t make much of an impression on the road. A Carter Fogarty hat-trick, which featured rare even-strength, powerplay and shorthanded goals, downed the Huskies, who registered a consolation goal through Da Silva.
Carter Nadon made 32 saves in the loss, with the Huskies goaltender starting the past six games after his competition, Stephen Toltl, was traded to the Georgetown Raiders.
“It was the same message, which was that we need to start having more consistency and making sure we don’t have those lulls in a game. There were periods in the game where we didn’t play well at all,” Bailey said.
It was a late night for fans in Minden Oct. 21 as the Huskies dropped a 1-0 game to the Toronto Patriots in double overtime. Tate Collins had the game’s only goal, potting nine seconds into the second extra frame.
The topsy-turvy week left the Huskies in eighth place in the OJHL’s East Conference, with 13 points and a record of 5-7-3. The team is back in action this weekend, travelling to Markham for a tilt with the Royals Oct. 24 before part one of the ‘Battle of Hwy. 35’ against the Lindsay Muskies in Minden Oct. 25. Puck drop is 4 p.m.
