Preds outplayed by two tough teams

After rolling out three wins in a row after a loss in their Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL) opener, the Niagara Predators had a turkey of a weekend this Thanksgiving, dropping two decisions. 

Facing their toughest opponent yet in the Durham Roadrunners Friday, they came out flat and were seriously outplayed by the 2021-2022 North Division champs over two periods in Virgil. 

From the moment the Zamboni door closed and the black-clad Durham squad beat the home team onto the ice, things went the Roadrunners way. Just 1:10 after the anthem, Durham’s Matthew Balke beat Niagara goalie Ryan Santini to open the scoring. 

Then the Roadrunners got busy throwing their much bigger bodies into Niagara skaters, knocking them into the boards and off their game. Each hit was punctuated by the raucous cheers of seven Durham players sitting in the stands. They were scratched from Friday’s line-up but made the trip to provide moral support. Did they ever. 

The Predators were able to mount a couple of attacks in that period, with forward Wais Ayubi missing a sure chance on an empty side of the net. Reese Bisci finally solved goalie Gian-Marco Peyer when he scored on a breakaway to tie it up. 

But the hits kept coming, and Trevor Urquhart put Durham back up 2-1 before the end of the period. 

It truly fell apart in the second for the Preds. The body checks from the Roadrunners continued, and Durham repeatedly beat Niagara to the puck in the Predators’ own end, leaving Santini a sitting duck between the pipes. When the proverbial smoke cleared, Durham had scored four more to take a 6-1 lead. 

The Predators finally stopped the Durham attack in the third period, holding the Roadrunners off the scoreboard, but they could not find a way to beat Peyer, and their ineffective power play couldn’t capitalize on two opportunities with a five-on-three advantage. The 6-1 score held, despite Durham holding a shots-on-goal advantage of only 46-45 for the game. 

Taylor admitted he was bothered by what he called “the total disrespect of what was happening up in the stands.” But he also admitted that the Roadrunners played a great game. 

“They play a great system,” Taylor said after Friday’s game. “Their coaches have had them since they’ve been atoms. That’s what a championship team is built on at any level. We only have four returnees this year. They went to the finals last year, they have that swagger with them. They are the cream of the crop in our division.”

“We played well the first period,” Taylor continued. “but we just kind of laid back in the second. We needed to clog up the middle, but we didn’t do that very well. In the third period we played a lot better, and should have had two or three goals. It’s a good learning experience for our guys.”

Taylor was hoping his team could keep Friday’s third period momentum going two days later when, for the third Sunday in four weeks they travelled to St. George to take on the rival Ravens. 

Another slow start resulted in a 2-0 lead for the Ravens by the end of the first period. Jaroslav Dohnal finally put the Predators on the scoreboard in the second when he tipped a shot by Nolan Wyers past Ravens goalie Matthew Czyzewski. 

A power play opportunity early in the third period resulted in Niagara tying the game up. Wyers won the faceoff in the St. George end, Dohnal grabbed the puck for a shot on Czyzewski, and Anthony Tropea tucked the rebound into the far side of the net. 

Wyers put the Preds up 3-2 two minutes later when Czyzewski stopped another Dohnal shot and the 16-year-old centre followed up to score on the rebound. 

But the Ravens stormed back with three unanswered goals to finish off the Preds. The winning marker came when Benjamin Cunningham’s shot on the Niagara goal went wide of the net, bounced off the back wall and landed right on the stick of Derek Bush, who capitalized on an out-of-position Santini. Reece Furtado added an empty net insurance  goal with 16 seconds remaining in the game. 

“We had the lead,” Taylor said Monday. “Their fourth goal was really a lucky goal. They dumped it in and it bounced the right way for them. It was a good, entertaining game. We outplayed them, and we should have won. They got the bounces, and they worked a little harder.”

That was the theme for both games last weekend, their opponents working a bit harder than the Predators. Taylor said it’s been tough to solidify systematic play with a young team that is still coming together with all the pieces. There are other challenges as well.

“I’ve had players late for practice, or showing up late for games,” Taylor lamented. “It’s a bit of a disruption. As much as I’m coaching hockey, I’m coaching kids to become decent human beings. Showing up for a 3 p.m. game at 2:45 p.m., there’s no excuse for that. And a couple of guys missed all of last week’s practices.”

With a .500 record six games into the season, Taylor isn’t pushing the panic button. But their next two games are against the undefeated North York Renegades Friday at home, and a Monday rematch with the Roadrunners in Durham. The Renegades handed the Roadrunners their only loss so far this season, 4-1 this past Saturday. 

“North York will be a tough game,” admitted Taylor. “They handled them pretty good. For the Durham game, it will be interesting to see how the boys respond to how they acted Friday night at our arena. We’ll focus on North York first, and then I’ll bring that back up. It should be a little bit of fuel for the fire for them.”

Friday’s game is a 7:30 p.m. start at the Meridian Credit Union Arena. The Predators’ food drive for Newark Neighbours continues, so fans are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to the arena.