There aren’t too many positives you can find after a 4-1 loss, but that’s what the Borderland Thunder will try to do after their disappointing defeat at the hands of the host Dryden Ice Dogs last night.
“We’ve had slippage in our habits,” said head coach Dave Allison. “We’ve had slippage in our work areas, and I don’t think we’ve been smart enough to recognize that we’re just getting away with it.
“But the best thing about it all is that we’re finding out about it when we’ve still got time left in the season to change it,” he added.
With only 14 games left in the regular season, including five against the first-place Fort William First Nation North Stars and five more versus the third-place Ice Dogs, the Thunder sit in second with a 24-7-3 record.
But they are just 3-3-2 since their return from the Christmas break—and don’t look like the team that went undefeated through the first 12 games of the season.
“Every team goes through this and it just happens to be at this time of year, but luckily we have enough games before the playoffs where we can get through this,” said Thunder forward Morgan Cekalla.
The Thunder entered last night’s contest duly confident as they had not lost to Dryden all season. But they weren’t ready for the Ice Dogs’ steady attack, which threw the visitors off of their game.
Dryden jumped out to a quick start with a power-play goal early in the first period that resulted from a pass through the top of the crease that found the man cutting in from the back side.
Thunder goalie Tyler Gordon then was beaten shortly afterwards when Merlyn Smith found himself alone in front of the net. He faked the backhand, which brought Gordon to his knees, then reversed direction and went top shelf with a wrist shot.
“They just got the jump on us, and we couldn’t keep up and everyone was watching. We just didn’t get the job done,” said Thunder defenceman Kurt Hogard.
The Thunder tried to forecheck to start the second period but got caught in Dryden’s zone, leading to a breakaway by Jordan Chong, which he converted after a nice deke.
Brock Harling cut the deficit to 3-1, unassisted, after he found the puck in front of the net after a scramble.
The Thunder then had their chances on the power play, but were abysmal in trying to get established in the offensive zone to mount any sort of pressure on Dryden’s goalie, who faced 20 shots.
Dryden iced the victory with an empty-netter goal with less than two minutes to play.
“The power play isn’t something we’ve really practised on because we don’t have a great five-on-five work ethic,” said Allison.
But Dryden took advantage of their chances, scoring four goals on just 16 shots while stifling the Thunder attack to the point of embarrassment.
“We’ve got guys that just aren’t working hard enough, and their fooling themselves,” stressed Allison. “We’ve got to have the same plan and the same vision.”
The Thunder have more than a week to contemplate last night’s loss as they don’t resume play until Feb. 4-5 when the North Stars (29-1-2) make a return visit to the Ice for Kids Arena.
Fort William’s one loss and both ties have come against the Thunder.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
