It was a different arena and a different opponent but the same result for the 麻豆社国产Wolf Pack as they lost 7-3 to the Port Moody Black Panthers in Port Moody on Saturday (Nov. 20).
As the Pack embarked on their longest road trip of the season, the Port Moody Arena proved to be as unfriendly as the Brennan Park Arena has been all year for the team.
"We were missing a bunch of guys and we just couldn't get anything going all night on our power play," said Wolf Pack head coach Matt Samson.
The Pack were playing without forwards Garrett Woodside, Ty Babych and Mico Dragutinovic, as well as defenceman Gray Meckling. To make matters worse, their leading scorer Konrad Sander suffered a foot injury during the game and was forced to hit the showers early. Samson expects him to be back in time for next game but losing him for any amount of time would be a big blow to the team.
As has been the case all season long, special teams were an issue against the Panthers. 麻豆社国产failed to convert on any of its five power-play opportunities while giving up two goals with a man down. Another disturbing trend is the increasing number of shots that the Pack has been giving up in the past few weeks. 麻豆社国产was outshot 51-35 in the game and Samson is concerned by the recent shots-against numbers.
"Our defensive zone coverage has become sloppy in the last few weeks," he said. "Our defence is getting a little worn down and certain guys are logging a lot of ice time thanks to some of our injuries."
The Panthers opened the scoring 48 seconds into the first period but 麻豆社国产answered when Jamie Creamore scored his second of the year to tie the game 1-1. Less than four minutes later, Port Moody connected on the power play to head into the second period up 2-1.
Port Moody added another power-play goal in the second period to go up 3-1 and then scored three more unanswered goals in the third period to take a stranglehold on the game. Connor Cross tallied for the Wolf Pack to make it a 6-2 game and then Matt Bonin potted a shorthanded goal to draw the Pack within three, but that's as close as they would get. The Panthers added a late empty netter to reach the final score of 7-3.
The loss extends the Wolf Pack's winless streak to 14 games and the team has failed to win a game since Oct. 11. Their record now stands at three wins, 17 losses and four overtime losses and they trail the Grandview Steelers by 18 points for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Tom Shaw Conference.
The Pack will continue on its road trip when the team travels to North Delta to take on the Devils on Saturday (Nov. 27). The Devils are a team that 麻豆社国产has played hard against all year, losing three one-goal games and Samson said he expects a good effort from his team.
"We need to keep them off the power play and get a good forecheck," he said, noting that several of the team's games against the Devils could have been wins had the bounces gone in Squamish's favour.
The team will then continue its road trip when it takes on the Grandview Steelers on Sunday (Nov. 28). The Wolf Pack will then returns to 麻豆社国产for a home game on Dec. 4, when they host those same Steelers.
For more information on the team, visit www.squamishwolfpack.com.
