Sabres back at .500 with sweep of Diesels
| By editorial Wednesday, 15 October 2008 - 1:43pm. |
By Mitch Calvert, Staff writer
The Fort Frances Jr. Sabres are on a roll.
After losing four-straight home games to start their second SIJHL season, the Sabres have now chalked up four in the win column, including 8-3 and 4-2 victories over the host Schreiber Diesels on Friday and Saturday.
Leading 2-1 heading into the third, the Sabres then exploded for six goals to turn a close game into a blowout, with the No. 1 line of Carson Dubchak, Brendan Baumgartner, and Chris Sinclair connecting for four of those.
Smith added a short-handed goal while Adam Wensley rounded out the Sabres’ scoring in the final minute.
Ryan Faragher, meanwhile, stopped 34 of 37 shots to earn the win between the pipes.
“Friday night was our best game of the year so far,” Sabres’ head coach Wayne Strachan said.
“We had a little lapse in the third after we went up 4-1, but we adjusted and went back to work,” he noted. “The effort that was put forth by every player was very nice to see.
“They were on a mission not only to complete our goal of [getting back to] .500, but to avenge our playoff lose to the Diesels last season.”
The Diesels opened the scoring in Saturday’s tilt, but Mitch Cain connected on a power play to tie the score after one period.
Sabres’ defenceman Kenny Carpenter was credited with the only goal of the second on a short-handed effort, then Cain again tallied on a power play early in the third to give the visitors a two-goal cushion.
After Gabe Capozzi gave the Sabres a 4-1 edge, Aaron Ross netted one for the Diesels in the dying seconds to close out the scoring.
The teams combined for 124 penalty minutes on 49 infractions as emotions boiled over in the third period Saturday.
“After we got the lead in the second, we took the game over much like Friday night,” Strachan noted. “Aggressive forechecking, taking the body, and playing good in our own end of the ice.
“Our special teams were good [Saturday],” he added. “We may have given up two goals on the ‘PK,’ but our ‘PP’ matched them and we worked hard in this department.”
The team was built around speed and skill in the off-season, and that now appears to be paying off as Saturday’s game saw the second line of Cain, Smith, and Dan Usiski lead the charge offensively. That keyed the win as Dubchak and Baumgartner both spent considerable time in the penalty box.
Having both scoring lines firing on all cylinders will go a long way to a successful season.
Since Kyle Turgeon returned to the lineup three games ago, the Sabres have yet to lose. Maybe he’s the missing piece?
“Hey, I hope so. Maybe I’m the good luck charm,” Turgeon said with a laugh. “The top two lines are firing, and even the fourth line got a couple so that was good to see.”
The Sabres out-shot the Diesels 23-3 in the second period and 44-23 overall in Saturday’s game.
“Overall, the team was together and didn’t quit for any reason this weekend,” Strachan enthused. “We achieved our goal of [getting back to] .500 and now are looking to be 6-4 after this week.
“We’re trying to move up the ladder in the standings before our tough road trip the following week,” he added.
“Dan Smith played well this past weekend, our leaders led, and our big game players, so to speak, came up with huge efforts,” Strachan continued. “Our defencemen really played well on the weekend, and we got good goaltending.
“We are going in the right direction and we have to keep working on our game to tweak a few areas.”
The Sabres played the expansion Sioux Lookout Flyers here last night (the outcome was not available by press time).
The same two teams square off again Friday night at the Ice for Kids Arena before the Sabres face three games in three nights, starting Oct. 22 against the Fort William North Stars.
Then they play the Thunder Bay Bearcats on Oct. 23 before closing out the three-game stretch against the Ice Dogs up in Dryden on Oct. 24.
