|
|
WAXERS EARN WIN AND TIE,
EXTEND UNBEATEN STREAK TO SEVEN And the unbeaten streak the club currently possesses could not have come at a more opportune time as the regular season is rapidly drawing to a conclusion. Winding down the regular season in such a positive fashion has Waxers' Head Coach Russ Herrington feeling optimistic as the playoffs approach. "I certainly hope we're peaking. The guys seem to be coming together a little better. That's the feeling I get," Herrington said after his club edged the Durham Huskies 4-2 at Centennial Arena on Friday and battled the host Huntsville Wildcats to a 3-3 draw the following night. In Friday's game, which saw the Waxers unveil their hockey wall of fame and honour former Waxer and current Washington Capital Adam Oates by retiring his old uniform number 10, the club earned two points despite giving a lacklustre effort. "I thought we played a bit out of control and I thought we took some dumb penalties," Herrington cited of Friday's performance. "And I thought we might have lacked some emotion and focus. But we still managed to win."
The Waxers led 2-0 after one period on two goals by Ian Malcolm within a 38-second span. After the Huskies rallied to tie the game, the Waxers regained the lead for good on a goal by Rob Bumbaco with 20 seconds left in the second period. Herrington felt that goal provided the wake-up call the team needed. Brett Barrer added a power-play marker in the final period to round out the scoring. On Saturday in Huntsville they played what Herrington felt was a more inspired effort. "We played well enough to win (on Saturday). We generated a lot of scoring chances. But we ran into a hot goalie and we spent a lot of time in the penalty box taking some penalties that I don't think we deserved." A third period goal by Rob Mazzuca with eight minutes left enabled the Waxers to earn a tie after holding a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes and battling to a 3-3 tie. Malcolm and Bumbaco accounted for the other Waxers' goals. Reflecting on the two games, Herrington saw plenty of positives to dwell on. As in the previous weekend, the Waxers' penalty-killing units proved to be a strong point as they allowed just two goals in 22 shorthanded situations. Sporting a 23-13-4-2 mark, the fifth-place Waxers will host the Wexford Raiders this Friday at 8:00 pm and play in Thornhill against the Rattlers on Saturday at 7:30 pm.
|
