Joey Payeur
Even a first-year head coach knows top-flight special teams’ work can win hockey games.
Jordan Sinclair now is extra glad he kept that in mind preparing for the NorWOSSA boys’ hockey final.
The Muskies scored three times with the man-advantage in the first period, and also killed 10-of-12 short-handed situations, en route to the 5-2 victory over the visiting St. Thomas Aquinas Saints in Game 1 of the best-of-three series Sunday afternoon at the Ice For Kids Arena.
Fort High was in a position to wrap up its 10th-straight league title last night in Game 2 in Kenora (score unavailable as of press time).
A loss would force Game 3 tomorrow (March 9) at 1:15 p.m. back at the Ice For Kids Arena.
Each side was whistled for a dozen minor penalties in Game 1, leaving Sinclair almost in disbelief.
“(Twelve) is way too many . . . four is too many,” he remarked.
“Some of the calls were calls, for sure, [but] some were selfish or retaliatory penalties, which is something I don’t agree with from our players.
“That was awful,” Sinclair added. “It’s unfortunate because we got off to a really good start and then it was just a parade to the penalty box.
“When you’ve got all these penalties, you have some of your guys who barely touch the ice for a good chunk of time,” he noted.
The Saints were handed six infractions in the first period alone, which ended with the black-and-gold leading 4-0.
Landon Woods showed his opportunistic side–putting home a rebound on the power play at 3:51 after Byron Stewart’s original shot went high and wide of the Saints’ net.
James Gushulak made it 2-0 with a steal and then a full-speed finish before going upstairs on Saints’ goalie Brandon Scott.
Mike Drouin then scored a power-play goal by sneaking in undetected from the point and getting two cracks at the puck before shoving it past Scott at 8:28.
Cole Allan extended the Saints’ woes on another power play as his point shot beat a screened Scott at 12:07.
“I liked our energy, our compete level coming right out of the gate,” said Sinclair.
“The way we were moving the puck reminded me of when we played these guys the last time during the first of that string of five games in six days last month where I really felt the guys were coming together.
“We’re a good skating team but when we’re moving the puck like that, we’re a totally different team,” he stressed.
Gushulak netted his second of the game at 1:06 of the second by drilling a quick shot past Scott, who mostly was left to fend for himself by his teammates up to that point.
The Muskies’ inability to stay out of the penalty box led to the Saints finally breaking through later in the second.
Eric Pitkanen’s interference call and Drouin’s simultaneous unsportsmanlike conduct penalty had the Muskies down two players for a full two minutes.
The Saints were ineffective early in the advantage, but made good on it at 14:24 when Brett Riehl nabbed a rebound and lifted it over downed Muskie goalie Spencer Murphy, who got the start after veteran Matt Booth played both semi-final games against the Sioux Lookout Warriors.
Then with Sheldon Kelly Jr. in the box for a double minor for head contact, Skylar Lentz cranked a bullet just under the crossbar from the side of the net at 1:43 of the third.
The Muskies quickly put themselves two men down again when Brent Jourdain got a slashing minor with Kelly still in the box for another 53 seconds.
But Murphy’s huge glove save on a rebound try from Riehl right on the doorstep was the key moment in the Muskies killing off both ends of the short-handed situation and effectively dashing the Saints’ hopes for a comeback.
“Murphy’s been playing well for us, too, this year and we told him to make sure he was always ready to go in,” noted Sinclair.
“Today [Sunday] was a good game for him.”
Rookie defenceman Jace Jackson said his team wasn’t content knowing an OFSAA berth awaits both them (as host) and the Saints (as the NorWOSSA rep) no matter the outcome of the series.
“We came out ready to go today,” he remarked. “It was good how everyone was moving the puck good and getting lots of shots on net.
“We always want to try our best, no matter the situation, and the veteran players are good at helping everyone keep up their intensity.”
Jackson has seen and heard much about the Muskies’ success over the years as a fan and was ready for his turn at hoisting the NorWOSSA trophy.
“It’s pretty exciting, especially with us having OFSAA at home this year [March 21-23],” he enthused.
“We’re going to have a lot of fans out.”
Veteran defenceman Connor Tibbs played his first game for the Muskies since being sidelined by injury in mid-January.
“I think Connor did a decent job,” said Sinclair, who rested Tibbs for the entire third period for precautionary reasons.
“He was a little rusty, which is to be expected since he hasn’t played in over a month and didn’t event get back on the ice until last Wednesday,” he added.
“He’s good to go,” Sinclair stressed. “He just needs to get his conditioning back.”
