Joey Payeur
How did the Muskie boys’ hockey team look after not playing for 19 days?
Pretty much like a team that hadn’t played in 19 days, at least early on.
The black-and-gold eventually shook off the rust and skated to a 4-2 win over the Dryden Eagles in NorWOSSA play Tuesday night at the Ice For Kids Arena.
“We certainly didn’t come out firing on all cylinders,” admitted head coach Jordan Sinclair, whose squad last suited up in competition Dec. 29 due to inclement weather wiping out an exhibition game Jan. 3 against the Kittson Bearcats and a league game Jan. 10 versus the Kenora Broncos.
“I was not overly surprised,” he added.
“It was nice to get some rest and the chance to practice lots to work on things, but practice is much different from a game.”
Nathan Kiddie put Dryden in front with a power-play goal at 4:35 after Muskie goalie Matt Booth stopped Noah Brunton’s original shot but couldn’t control the rebound.
It only took 1:03 for the Muskies (8-0) to get that one back.
On a delayed penalty, Chase McGuire dug for the puck along the boards and got it to Cole Allan behind the Dryden net.
Allan’s quick pass in front promptly was deposited in the back of the net by Eric Pitkanen.
Pitkanen then notched the go-ahead goal early in the second period on a set-up from Mike Drouin and Cam Gushulak.
Byron Stewart made it 3-1 with the man-advantage goal at 6:43—blistering a shot to the lower right corner of the net past Eagles’ goalie Jace Gamble.
“I saw a wide-open hole and took a shot,” shrugged Stewart, who wasn’t enamoured with his team’s play.
“We have to stop taking penalties and we didn’t finish,” he stressed.
“We were either going high over the net or missing the net.”
Dryden inched closer at 16:17 on a lightning-quick play right off a face-off in the Muskies’ zone that saw Keith Wrolstad move the puck to Zach Lugli, who beat Booth from close range.
But the Muskies stiffened defensively in the third, not allowing much in the way of scoring chances.
They played keepaway with the puck in the final minutes so well, in fact, that Dryden couldn’t pull Gamble until there was only 11 seconds left.
McGuire iced the victory with an empty-netter with two seconds left.
The Muskies head to Winnipeg this weekend for the John Piper Classic, where they will open play against the Garden City Gophers tomorrow and then the Shaftesbury Titans on Saturday.
The tournament wraps up Sunday.
“We had a really good team meeting last week and set some new long-term goals, and one of them was to go and win this tournament this weekend,” noted Sinclair.
“It’s important for us to get out and play some good competition,” he stressed.
“I don’t think you can underestimate the importance of a team learning how to win tough games like that, especially when you get into the playoffs and more looking ahead to the all-Ontarios.”
The Muskies next play at home Jan. 31 against the Sioux Lookout Warriors.
