Predators look to ring in New Year by slaying the Bulls

The Niagara Predators close out the calendar year with a home-and-home series this week against the Bradford Bulls. Picking up a few points against the South Division’s second place team would be a great way to end their current three-game skid.  

“To pick up any point right now is important,” says head coach Kevin Taylor. “This has been a really tough part of our schedule. We got some points where we weren’t expecting to. Where we lost some points, we can’t dwell on that anymore. We have to look forward and try to pick up the points where we can.”

Taylor is talking about the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League team’s last six games, during which they faced the first place North York Renegades and the third place Durham Roadrunners twice each, with two league showcase games against the North Division’s Temiscaming and West Nipissing in the middle. They went 2-3-1 in that stretch when many predicted they might have been completely blanked against some tough competition.

Unfortunately, last Wednesday’s 9:00 a.m. showcase game against the West Nipissing Lynx was the Preds’ fourth game in six days, including games three days in a row. It was the first of three losses in a row.

After some strong play by Niagara for the first 15 minutes that day, they gave up two goals in 20 seconds to the Lynx and the wind seemed to have been knocked out of their sails. West Nipissing cruised to a 5-0 shutout of a tired and hapless Preds squad who seemed lost on the Gale Centre Ice the rest of the way. 

“It was just too much,” Taylor said about Wednesday’s game. “Nine o’clock, I never see 9:00 a.m. And we had such a great game the afternoon before against Temiscaming (Niagara won 5-3). It’s tough to do that again the next day.”

After beating Durham 4-3 on the road last Monday the Roadrunners came to town Friday night looking for revenge. They got that in the form of a 3-2 win in front of one of the Predators’ largest crowds of the year. 

After a scoreless first period Durham’s Zach Burns got the Roadrunners on the scoreboard 12:45 into the second when he beat Preds goalie Zane Clausen on the short side. 

The two teams exchanged goals back and forth in the third, with Durham’s Yenry Jibb,and Loenzo Sullivan and Niagara’s Nolan Wyers scoring. Taylor pulled Clausen in favour of the extra attacker with more than 90 seconds remaining. Rhys Jones replied for the Preds to make it 3-2 with 30 seconds left, but the Roadrunners closed the door the rest of the way. 

The Predators played a strong game defensively, with two of the Durham goals coming on rebounds that Clausen couldn’t adjust to. And they outshot the Roadrunners 35-31. 

But Taylor felt his team should have won the game, and that the loss came down to some basic fundamentals. 

“We asked them to dump the puck in,” explained Taylor Friday night. “Every time they did that we controlled the game. When we began trying to take the puck in ourselves, we became isolated. We had no puck support. We were trying to beat three or four guys and lost the puck, and they couldn’t figure out why.”

The Predators suffered their third loss in a row Sunday, a 5-1 decision on the road in favour of the North York Renegades. 

Taylor’s team found itself in a deep hole by the end of the first period, giving up goals to Reily Wosik, Jedidja Somersall and Christopher Rende, the latter of whom scored short handed. Though they had some power play opportunities in the final 40 minutes the Preds couldn’t come back from that deficit.

“We came out flat and they got three quick ones,” Taylor laments. “We played a lot better in the third period, we came out with a lot more jump. But we were missing some key players. I think we’ve had maybe one game with our full lineup this year.”

Injuries and illnesses have slowed down some key Predators as of late, including Declan Fogarty, Nolan Wyers, Reece Bisci, goalie Mike Mankowski and defenseman Nick Savoie. That has forced the coaching staff to move some of the players around to face the Bulls, who are 19-9-0 on the season.

“They have a good team,” admits Taylor. “This is our first time playing them, so we don’t know what to expect. But we have to come out with a good effort and play a full 60 minutes.”

The Predators travel to the Bob Fallis Arena in Bradford Wednesday night for the first game in the home-and-home series, then host the Bulls in Virgil this Friday, December 22 at 7:30 p.m. 

After that it’s a much-needed two-week break for all involved with the team. 

“We’re all a bit run-down from this last stretch, coaches included,” says Taylor. “We’re worn out. The guys need a break, and I’m hoping they come back with a renewed interest in the game, wanting to prove exactly what we can do.”