Sabres split with Bulldogs

Even if they didn’t get the sweep they were looking for, the Fort Frances Jr. Sabres’ winless streak is over after they beat the Thunder Bay Bulldogs 4-2 on Saturday night.
But while the win was their first in nine games, the Sabres (4-10-2-3) couldn’t hide their disappointment from losing 3-1 to the cellar-dwelling Bulldogs (3-10-2-0) on Sunday afternoon.
“We let two points slip away because that’s a team that we should beat,” Sabres’ head coach Wayne Strachan said. “I would’ve liked to see a sweep. I think we’re a much better team than we showed, especially on Sunday’s game.
“For whatever reason, we just didn’t show up.
“It’s kind of disappointing that we didn’t get the four points, obviously, and we set goals every weekend against every team we play,” Strachan added. “To not achieve it does hurt because we did build some confidence.”
The scoring came from across the roster Saturday night, with Kyle Turgeon starting things with a shorthanded goal, followed by power-play goals by Quinn Amiel, Matthew York, and Mitch Cain in the second period.
Amiel, York, Alessio Tomassetti, and Brock Owen all registered two points in the game.
Strachan admitted Saturday’s effort wasn’t “a great game,” but was impressed with the scoring from the Sabres’ special teams.
“In the key situations in the game, we did rise to the occasion,” he noted.
Tomassetti scored the Sabres’ lone goal unassisted Sunday in a match in which Fort Frances outshot the Bulldogs 36-26.
“Five on five, they just outworked us,” goalie Ryan Faragher said. “It seemed like we didn’t want it as bad as they did. . . .
“I’m not going to say it was our best effort, but we got one win and that’s what we needed,” he added.
Strachan painted the weekend as being a bit of a goaltenders’ duel, saying he was “very impressed” with the play of Faragher, who started both games, as well as offering some praise for the Bulldogs’ Drew Strandberg.
“Their goalie, he stood on his head and made some very good saves to prevent us from scoring,” he noted.
Faragher stopped 28 of 30 shots on Saturday and 23 of 26 Sunday.
While Faragher didn’t have much to say about his own performance except that Saturday was “a good game,” Strachan credited him with being one of the big difference-makers on the weekend.
He said he started Faragher on Sunday “not only [to] reward him for his play but you know, he was hot Saturday, so try to carry the momentum over into Sunday.”
“By no means, it wasn’t his fault on Sunday. He played another great game.”
The Sabres head to Dryden tonight to conclude their six-game road swing. The top-ranked Ice Dogs (13-6-0-0) have beaten the Sabres in regulation in all five of their meetings so far, outscoring Fort Frances by a collective 26-10 margin.
However, the teams’ last two meetings were both 4-2 losses for the Sabres—and they haven’t met since Oct. 17.
Faragher said with the Sabres coming off some easy competition and relatively sparse scheduling, and the Ice Dogs fresh off a pair with the third-place Thunder Bay Bearcats (11-7-0-0), they have a chance to get the jump on Dryden.
“Come out working hard,” Faragher said. “The only thing we can do is play 110 percent. If we do, we can keep close to Dryden ’cause we’re in better shape than they are.”
Strachan knows beating the Ice Dogs at home will be a tough task, adding the team will focus on shutting down the most effective power play in the league at home (32.7 percent) by sharpening up the penalty kill.
The Sabres also will try to contain their penalties—and take advantage of the league-leading 54.5 minutes per game Dryden spends in the box on average.
“I think in the last two games we’ve played them, we’ve showed that we can play with them, and if we carry that mentality into [tonight’s] game, I think we’ll give ourselves a fair chance at beating them,” Strachan said.