The Muskies will be working on their checking as they gear up to face the Dryden Eagles in the best-of-three NorWOSSA final, which gets underway here Friday night.
“Defence wins championships,” Muskie head coach Glen Edwards stressed after the black-and-gold swept the Sioux Lookout Warriors in the best-of-three semi-finals with a 12-2 romp up there Monday night.
“We want to continue to shut down their offence,” Edwards said of his intention to limit Dryden’s scoring chances.
Game two of the series goes Sunday night in Dryden, with game three, if necessary, back here Tuesday night. The winner advances to the all-Ontarios later in March in Burlington.
Edwards said the Muskies got off to a slow start Monday night in Sioux Lookout but then picked it up a notch.
“We didn’t play well in the first period but we were a bit more intense in the second and third period,” he recalled.
Adam McTavish led the way with a hat trick while Dallas Mosbeck netted a pair of goals. Bryce Witherspoon, Ross Anderson, Kevin Webb, Kris Esselink, David Lloyd, Jeff Savage, and Cole Hayward all added singles.
“Our scoring was more dispersed,” remarked Edwards. “Webb has cooled off and the Anderson line is scoring more.”
In fact, the Anderson line has been the Muskies’ top one in their last four games.
“I didn’t want Webb to cool off as much as he did,” chuckled Edwards, who is hoping the prolific scorer, who set a team record for most regular-season goals (72), will regain his scoring touch against Dryden.
Edwards also admitted when the Muskies play a lower-calibre team like Sioux Lookout, their intensity level and quickness drops.
“That is fine as long as when you play a good team you can bring it back up,” he reasoned.
The Muskies had opened the series with a 9-2 win here Friday night. McTavish once again led the attack with two goals while Donald Kellar, Steve Niskala, Mosbeck, Savage, Anderson, Hayward, and Webb netted singles.
Monday night’s game originally was scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Sioux Lookout but it was cancelled due to the heavy snowstorm Saturday night.
Dryden advance to the NorWOSSA final after sweeping the Kenora Broncos 3-0 at home Friday night and then 4-1 there Sunday.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
