Predators finally beat Roadrunners, still fourth in division

The Niagara Predators finally got their top-three-teams monkey off their backs Monday when they defeated the third place Durham Roadrunners 4-3
at the Delpark Homes Centre in Oshawa. 

Goaltender Zane Clausen did everything other than stand on his head, stopping 40 shots to lead Niagara to its first victory this season over a top-three team in the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League’s South Division.

Prior to Monday the Preds were a combined 0-10 against Durham, the Bradford Bulls and the North York Renegades. Head coach Kevin Taylor was elated with the victory. 

“It is so nice,” he told The Local. “The boys played well. It was a really good game. We had Rob (Turnbull, team president) on the bench with us, which was nice. It was an all-around great game.”

Durham was first on the scoreboard at 14 minutes into the game, when Jaden Smith scored on a power play. Just 40 seconds later, Niagara had a power play opportunity of their own. Defenceman Ethan Boyd fed a perfect pass to forward Cameron Savoie, who tied the game with a blistering shot that Durham goalie Hunter Hutchinson couldn’t handle. 

Jaroslav Dohnal put the Predators in the lead just over two minutes into the second period, with assists by Boyd and Nolan Wyers. A minute later, with Niagara on another power play, defenceman Guy Manco grabbed the puck during a scrum in front of the Roadrunners’ net and somehow tucked it in behind Hutchinson for the Preds’ third goal. 

Later in the period, Durham’s Kyle Smith closed the gap with a shorthanded goal on Clausen. But the Preds regained the two-goal lead when their top scorer, Anthony Tropea, was able to knock his own rebound into the Durham net. 

The Roadrunners had another power play with about five minutes remaining in the period, and Clausen came up with some big saves to preserve the lead. 

The third period started with players from both teams in the penalty box, following some pushing, shoving and fighting to end the second. But the Predators played probably their best defensive period of the season Monday, intercepting Durham’s passes and shutting down their offensive attack. 

Kyle Smith notched his second goal of the game with 36 seconds remaining and Hutchinson sitting on the bench, but they ran out of time to force an extra five minute period. 

The big win Monday followed a disappointing Sunday night game, in which the Preds dropped a 4-2 decision at home to the eighth place Streetsville Flyers. In that game they gave up a 2-1 lead to the Flyers in the second period and relinquished two more goals in the third for their second loss in two days to Streetsville. 

It was penalty trouble in the second and third periods that did in the Predators Sunday. 

“Bad penalties at the wrong time,” Taylor said after that game. “Reese (Bisci) got that five minute boarding call. It was a bad call. You don’t call that on that play. But overall we took penalties when we shouldn’t have taken them.”

Niagara outshot Streetsville 51-30 Sunday, but three of the four Streetsville goals were on power plays, leaving Clausen almost unprotected on some of the Flyers’ attempts. 

The Predators dominated in the first period Sunday, but seemed to tire out as the game progressed. Perhaps it was the fact that they were in the middle of their busiest seven game stretch of the season, with five games on their schedule, including four in a row from Friday to Monday, and practices last Wednesday and Thursday.

“It’s a lot of hockey,” said a frustrated Taylor, “We’re on the ice 12 times in 12 days.”

In Friday’s loss to the same Streetsville team, the Preds blew leads three times and allowed the Flyers to tie the game with 15 seconds remaining. As well, they had a man advantage for two minutes of the overtime period but failed to capitalize on the opportunity. 

“We got outworked,” said head coach Kevin Taylor after the game Friday. “Guys who were supposed to step up their game tonight didn’t step up. They weren’t playing like they wanted it.”

The Preds were without key scoring threats Cameron Savoie and Tyler Gearing for that game, both serving suspensions resulting from incidents in Tuesday’s game against St. George. 

Perhaps it was the frustration and anger that the team felt after Sunday’s loss that turned things around when they faced a much tougher Roadrunners team in their road game Monday. 

Over the five games last week, the Preds came away with five of a possible 10 points. They also lost to the rival St. George Ravens 2-1 Tuesday but picked up a win on the road in Tottenham Saturday night, where Timur Mirziaints had a hat trick, Anthony Tropea and Wyers had two goals, and Cameron Savoie, Bisci and Cole Ellis had singles in a 10-1 victory. 

Taylor says the win over Durham “makes a wasteful weekend not so wasteful. We pulled something out of our hats. It sucks that we only got five points, but this is something to build off of, to look forward to, to put together a bit of a run.”

The Predators are still holding onto fourth place in the division, two points in the standings up on Northumberland, who have won their last three games. The Stars will play host to the Predators Saturday, but first Niagara has to take on Streetsville one more time at home this Friday night. 

“That’s a must-win game for us,” Taylor says of Friday’s contest. 

Goaltender Ryan Santini, who has been out for three weeks with a shoulder injury, is slated to start Friday against the Flyers.

All the Predators have to do is win one of their remaining games to lock up fourth place and home ice advantage for the first round of the league’s Russell Cup playoffs. After two losses to the Flyers last weekend, It would certainly be gratifying for that win to come at home against Streetsville Friday night. 

Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Virgil’s Meridian Credit Union Arena.