..FROM
THE DESK OF MIKE HAYAKAWA..
WAXERS
TEAM EFFORT HAS MARKHAM UP 2-0 IN SERIES
In Russ
Herrington's opinion, it's been over a month since his Markham Waxers played what he felt was a complete hockey game.
On Friday, the Waxers picked a good time to revert to the form which made them one of the hottest teams down the stretch run of the Provincial Junior A Hockey League regular season after lambasting the Oshawa Legionaires 8-1 and seizing a two games to none lead in its best-of-seven South Conference first round playoff series.
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"We
executed well and I think our depth and skill kind of won out"
Russ Herrington |
"We played pretty well," cited the Waxers head coach. "In our first game (a 3-1 win last Thursday) I thought we were a little jittery. But on Friday we played the way we did in January. We executed well and I think our depth and skill kind of won out."
Indeed the Waxers' depth surfaced in Friday's outing as eight different players scored.
Jimmy Ball, on a power-play effort,
James Regan and Mark Menonte each scored once to stake in the first 20 minutes to stake the Waxers to a 3-0 lead.
Power-play markers from Derek Doucette and
Jesse Boucher combined with a shorthanded marker from
Jason Duffy and an even-strength tally from
Steve Kelly padded the Waxers' advantage to 7-0 through 40 minutes.
Adam Doucette rounded out the scoring after the Legionaires ruined
Rick Marnon's bid for a shutout near the midway point of the final frame.
Marnon handed 32 of 33 shots directed his way while the Waxers fired 47 shots on the Legionaires' goal.
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| This article was written by Mike
Hayakawa and published in the Markham Economist and Sun. Minor edits
may have been performed to the original article.
This has been reproduced with permission. |
Another aspect which pleased Herrington was the club's performance on special teams as they were three of seven on the power-play. "I thought we moved the puck well and generated a lot of chances. We shot the puck more than we had in the past," said Herrington. As well, the Waxers' penalty-killing units successfully fended off eight odd-man situations.
While the Waxers are in the driver's seat, Herrington was quick to point out the club won't take anything for granted. Last year, the Waxers held a 2-0 lead in its first-round series against the North York Rangers before losing the next three games but rallying in the final two contests.
"Right now everybody's been playing well for us. I don't think our leaders will allow (a Legionaires' comeback) to happen. Last year was a new situation for a lot of the guys who hadn't experienced winning a series. This year the guys have that taste in their mouths in that they know what it takes to win a series."
After today's third game, the series resumes Thursday in Oshawa. Should a fifth game be required it will return to Centennial Arena Friday at 8 p.m. Oshawa would host a sixth game Sunday at 12:30 p.m. A seventh game would be played in Markham on Feb. 19.
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