In a game dedicated to their second families, the Kootenay Ice proved there really is no place like home.
Playing their first game following a tough four-game road trip last week, in which they went 0-4, the team put up a massive 7-2 win in Cranbrook on ‘billet appreciation day’ to end a six-game winless streak.
“[Our billets] do so much for us,” said captain Colton Kroeker following the game. “[So] coming out like that and getting a big win [for them] was awesome.”
Prior to puck drop, the team welcomed all of the current billets out onto the ice surface to stand by the players during the national anthem and receive a warm ovation from the Western Financial Place crowd of 2,535 people.
It didn’t take the Ice long to open the floodgates for the families who opened their homes to them. Just three minutes into the game, Cam Hausinger made a cross ice pass to Brett Davis who beat a sprawling Tyler Brown in the Blades’ net.
twitter.com
Less than two minutes later, Hausinger and Davis picked up some more points, as they were credited with assists on an amazing single-handed effort by Alec Baer. Taking the puck from the corner, to right in front of the net, the 20-year-old veteran put in his team-leading 18th goal of the year.
Kootenay still wasn’t done, however, and exactly two minutes after Baer’s marker, Kroeker got in on the action. Taking advantage of a 3-on-1 situation, he took a pass from Krebs and beat Brown with a high shot.
As if a 3-0 lead wasn’t fortunate enough, the Ice were then gifted a power play near the midway point of the frame, as Blades’ defenceman Mark Rubinchik was tagged with a hooking call.
Looking to improve their league-worst man advantage percentage, the top unit quickly got to work with zone pressure. It wasn’t until a rush at the end of the power play, however, that Kootenay capitalized.
Taking a pass from Hausinger, Davis walked through two Blades’ defensemen with a one-handed deke and grabbed his second marker of the night.
Although Saskatoon got one back with two minutes remaining in the opening frame, with newcomer Max Gerlach getting a pass at the side of the net and outwaiting Duncan McGovern, the Ice managed to still go into the intermission with a four-goal lead.
With less than a minute left in the period, Kroeker and Veloso made a tic-tac play all through the neutral zone with Veloso finishing it off right in the goaltender’s wheelhouse.
According to head coach James Patrick, their early success was a combination of fatigue on one side and excellent execution of the game plan by his group.
“The [Blades] are a really dangerous team, [but] I think they were a little tired,” Patrick said. “They got in very late, about 4 or 5 in the morning, so that makes it tough for the 4 o’clock game. Saying that, we did what we had to do. I think we did a good job negating their rush, because they’re one of the best rush teams.”
Certain players also impressed the coach from the get-go.
“Brett Davis was dominant [for us]… he’s been our best player the last month and continued that,” he said. “Kroeker was good [too] and having Martin Bodak back helped out the defense a lot, just to have a guy play against their top players.”
In the second period, the Ice did not give an inch and kept the game at 5-1 until they extended their lead in the final few minutes.
A 5-on-3 power play got Keenan Taphorn his fifth goal of the season, as he wristed a puck over Brown’s leg following a lengthy period of pressure while collapsed in low around the Saskatoon net.
Soon after, Kroeker completed a cross-ice pass to Sam Huston who belted a slapshot with speed into the back of the net for his second goal in as many days, the third of his WHL career.
twitter.com
“[Huston] has worked at his game as hard as anyone,” Patrick said of the offensive hot-streak from his sophomore defenseman. “The whole focus [of our defenseman skill sessions] is shooting with your head up. On Monday and Tuesday morning, they took hundreds of shots and [now], Sam scored two goals both times with his head up.
“The whole bench was super excited… he’s a popular guy and so it was fun to see that it’s a skill he has improved on a little bit.”
When asked if he’ll keep up the streak and be a 20-plus goal scorer by the end of the season, Huston laughed.
“I wish, but I don’t know, we’ll see,” he chuckled. “[I’m] feeling good and hopefully I’ll keep it going. If it happens, it happens and if it doesn’t, that’s perfectly fine too.”
During the third period, the Ice’s goal scoring dried up, but their play didn’t deteriorate. Keeping their lead in tact, while getting several opportunities to experiment with different combinations on their power play, they kept their wide-lead until the very end of the night.
With 30 seconds left, Jake Kustra capitalized on a nearly identical goal as Saskatoon’s first, but the Kootenay side showed no complacency even past the final buzzer. It isn’t usual for a blowout to have such a dramatic ending, but that’s exactly what the Cranbrook crowd got.
Coming out of the penalty box in the last minute, Bodak earned a breakaway and was hauled down by defenseman Jackson Caller, prompting a penalty shot. After some rough stuff between Ryan Pouliot and Randen Schmidt in the corner, Bodak took his chance but was denied.
Despite putting up a lineup bound to be a safe bet to calm down end of game tensions, a partial line brawl broke out at the last faceoff. Brad Ginnell and Kaeden Taphorn both dropped the gloves on Kootenay’s behalf and threw down admirably to end the game.
“It was a very interesting 9.2 seconds, for sure,” Huston said. “Seeing Taphorn and Ginnell getting into a fight was nice to see, actually. I think they did fairly well, so hopefully they can keep bringing that edge.
“Everyone was just powered up [and] your emotions take over. I just assume that’s what happened with those two.”
As for the game as a whole, which ended with the shots being 32-30 in the Ice’s favour, a 2-for-8 power play and a perfect 6-for-6 penalty kill, the players and coaches didn’t have much in the way of self-criticism.
“I loved everything about how we played today,” said Kroeker, who ended as the game’s first star with a goal and three assists. “We played our system well, backchecked, and forechecked. We did all the little things right and scored goals.”
Patrick said it was “hard to evaluate” because of their first period success, but said that he was proud of the way the team stuck to their systems even after such a hot start.
“I was worried [heading into the second period] with a 5 – 1 lead,” he admitted. “I still had some fear because I know the [Blades] are a dangerous rush team who can score quickly and in bunches.
“Some of the leaders kept reinforcing the main way we wanted to play [though]. We talked about shorter shifts and playing our system right, [as well as] good puck management… I thought we did a good job in the neutral zone and getting five guys to force them to the inside.”
Named the game’s second star, Davis had two goals and an assist, while Hausinger had three assists and Bodak had two.
With the win, the Ice improved to a 19-22-3-0 record and remain in third place in the Central Division with 41 points, two back of the second-place Lethbridge Hurricanes and nine above their closest trailer, the Calgary Hitmen.
Kroeker leads the team in points with 40 in 41 games, while a one-assist performance allowed Krebs to regain the top spot for points by a WHL rookie.
The Ice’s next game is on Wednesday in Medicine Hat for a date against the Central Division-leading Tigers, who have beaten Kootenay in all three meetings so far this year. Puck drop will be at 7:00 p.m. at the Canalta Centre.
