The Quesnel Millionaires broke even Sunday night with a 2-2 tie against the visiting Alberni Valley Bulldogs, but coach Doug Hedley liked what he saw.
“Overall I think we played pretty well and probably should have won it, especially in overtime where we had a couple of good chances,” Mills head coach Doug Hedley said.
On offence the Mills were led by Michael Spring with two goals, while netminder Bryton Udy stopped 27 of 29 shots fired his way to shut the door defensively.
For Spring, the gritty physical play of the Bulldogs suited his style and brought out the best in him.
“They’re a team that will hit back, that’s my style,” Spring said.
“If I get hit I’m going to give it right back.
“That definitely gets me going.”
Spring did charge out of the gates with some big hits early in the game and he kept delivering throughout the game along with linemates Chris Blessing and Chris Kerr.
Spring opened the scoring for the Mills with a powerplay goal nine minutes into the first period when he tipped Spencer Graboski’s low shot from the point over the stickside pad of Bulldogs netminder Frank Slubowski.
The Bulldogs answered right back with two goals in the first frame, both by Colton Sobchak, thanks to a couple of miscues in the Mills zone, including an errant pass through the slot that found Sobchak all alone in front of Udy who had little chance to snag a bullet from close range.
Despite the miscues, Hedley said he was pleased with the improvement in the play and decision making by his defensive corps.
One of the changes Hedley pointed to was the smarter decisions his defencemen are making as to when to jump into the play, as well as sprinting back to the red line and getting pucks deep in the offensive zone where the forwards can go to work.
Those decisions, Hedley said, have cut down on the number of odd-man rushes the Mills are giving up.
Down by a goal going into the second period, the Mills turned up the pressure a notch, outshooting the Bulldogs 13-6 in the period.
The effort paid off when Spring collected his second goal of the game just under four minutes into the middle frame.
Kerr and Blessing worked the puck out to Spring in front of the Alberni Valley goal.
Spring fired a low shot that forced Slubowski to make a pad save and the rebound went straight back to Spring who made no mistake finding the back of the net.
With the game tied, both teams appeared to settle down and limited scoring chances to the outside.
The Mills appeared to have taken the lead late in the third period but the linesman called the goal off saying the puck had been kicked in and the teams settled in for overtime.
In overtime both teams had little left in their tanks as they had skated all out for three periods in some pretty good end-to-end action.
The Mills had the better chances in overtime, including chances by Spring for the hattrick as well as Daryl DeVries and Derek Huisman, but couldn’t capitalize.
Between the pipes, Udy made a handful of big pad saves for the Mills in the third period to keep the game tied.
Making his second straight start between the pipes for the Mills, Udy admitted the start against the Bulldogs was a great confidence booster.
“It was huge, I was struggling with the first shot and rebounds against Prince George [Spruce Kings],” he said.
“I was having trouble finding the rebounds, I’m not sure what the problem was.”
“I worked on the that [controlling rebounds] a lot last summer.
“I’m still working on that now.”
Compared to the Friday game in Prince George, Udy managed his rebounds much better Sunday against the Bulldogs.
“When he got here we were impressed at how he sucked all the pucks into him, giving up few rebounds, or putting them into the corner,” Hedley said.
“He was solid tonight, back to where he was when he first came here.”
Another difference was the help Udy received from his blueliners who had abandoned him on several occasions during Friday nights 5-4 overtime loss to the Spruce Kings.
“The boys really helped me around the net tonight and that helped get my confidence up,” Udy added.
“That was awesome.”
Part of his return to form, Udy said, was to put Friday night’s game behind him.
“I came to the rink thinking brand new game with a brand new mindset.”
That attitude, it appears, has spread through the Mills dressing room, starting the new year with a new mindset.
Not only has the Mills bench bought into the team concept but the players never give up and play to win from the opening faceoff.
In fact, the Mills have hit the scoreboard first in each of their last five games.
“It’s starting to be more consistent, the guys are buying in to what we want to do,” Hedley said.
The new attitude on the Mills bench will be tested this weekend when they host the Trail Smoke Eaters and Vernon Vipers. The Mills
will face the Smoke Eaters Thursday night, the Vipers Friday night and the Smoke Eaters again Saturday night.
