From the Times: Cambridge finds dent in armour
Cambridge finds dent in armour
Winter Hawks want to make statement against the top three
To Peter Crosby, Saturday’s final score was inconsequential.
Sure, statistically the Cambridge Winter Hawks were able to pick up a point in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Elmira Sugar Kings at the Galt Arena Gardens. That made it three out of a possible four points on the weekend with a 5-4 shootout win on Friday in Owen Sound.
But it was the way Cambridge played against the third-place Sugar Kings that had the Winter Hawks head coach smiling after the loss.
“I’m proud of the boys and their effort tonight,” Crosby said.
“They forced Elmira to resort to a more physical type of game to knock us off our play. Whenever you force a team into playing that type of hockey you’ve made a dent and you’ve made them fearful.”
In fact, the Winter Hawks had the Sugar Kings on the ropes for most of the night, holding leads of 2-0 and 3-2, before suffering their first loss in extra time.
With four games left against the teams in front of them – two against Brantford and one each with Elmira and Stratford – it’s time to make a statement against possible second-round playoff opponents.
“We’re feeling good about ourselves,” Crosby said.
“We’re adjusting and we’re doing some things, and some of them worked out really well tonight and we have a ways to go with other things. That’s all part of the preparation of the season. I like where we are and I like how we’re playing, but we sure as hell can’t be complacent.”
Two moves made during Christmas have already paid off for the Winter Hawks, as Brock Campbell scored against Elmira and Brett Gibson – a Siskin last year but acquired as a free agent on Jan. 3 – assisted on the goal.
Though Brandon Zimmerman and Tyler Snyder were still out of the lineup, and Darcy Meyer left Saturday’s game with an upper body injury, the Winter Hawks played like a team that wants to make a long playoff run.
“Right now, it’s trying to get to the point where we’re ready for that big dance. I’m happy with this step.”
Marselis Subban and Brennon Pearce gave the Winter Hawks a 2-0 lead on Saturday, before Brad Kraus and Andrew Smith tied the game by the 1:34 mark of the third.
Campbell gave the Winter Hawks a brief lead with a hard wrist shot under the crossbar, but Lukas Baleshta tied the game again three minutes later by deflecting Andrew Brubacher’s point shot past Lucas Machalski.
Riley Sonnenburg was the only player to score in the shootout.
On Friday, Ryan Clarke, Subban, Trevor Hache and Michael Christou scored in regulation, while Hache had the winner in the shootout.
Courtesy of Bill Doucet at the Cambridge Times. Read the original article here.
