6-3 loss extends Brampton’s losing streak to five games
“Sometimes when you work hard, you don’t get the results you want.”
Director of Hockey Operations and Head Coach Stan Butler has seen this story before. Maybe too many times for his own liking, but he continues to draw on the positives.
The Brampton Battalion peppered 41 shots at Sarnia goaltender Greg Hewitt but still came out on the wrong end of a 6-3 decision Sunday afternoon at the Brampton Centre. The loss was the club’s fifth in a row, and the six-game winless slide is the longest of the season.
Despite some questionable calls from the officiating and some untimely bounces, Butler refuses to get rattled.
“We refuse to make excuses. Instead, we seek solutions and that is the only way to get back on track,” said Butler.
And Butler wasn’t making any excuses for his team that allowed the Sting to strike for two goals in the first period, despite out-shooting Sarnia 13-9. But 1:21 into the second, Scott Thompson beat Hewitt from a tough angle to give the Battalion a shot of life, and it appeared the Battalion was finally getting some fortunate bounces.
But some questionable calls from the officiating took its toll. At the 6:30 mark, with Matt Reynolds and Rostislav Klesla in the penalty box, the Maxim Rybin beat Scott Della Vedova for his 18th of the season. Just 15 seconds later, Robb Palahnuk restored Sarnia’s three-goal edge. Both teams would trade goals later in the second period and in the third, but it was evident the 5-on-3 advantage did the Battalion in on this day.
“Obviously we have a better chance of staying in this one if we play 5-on-5 hockey. But we were faced with a tough situation after losing both Jay McClement and Jason Maleyko in the first period,” said Butler. McClement had to have some dental work done (due to injury) while Maleyko suffered a broken nose in a fight with Andy Burnham.
Thompson, who along with Maleyko are the only 19-year-olds on the team, echoed his coach’s sentiments.
“It was really tough having to go out there in the second period without a couple of key guys, but we knew we just had to take it shift-by-shift. The injuries are tough to deal with but Stan has managed to keep us positive and provide us with good feedback. What else can we do but keep plugging away,” said Thompson who was a second-star selection.
The injury bug continues to take a bite out of the troops. With Lukas Havel and Kurt MacSweyn missing their fifth and eighth games respectively due to hand injuries, Rich Kearns also missed Sunday’s action due to an injury suffered Friday night in Kitchener. He’s listed as day-to-day.
Next up for the Battalion is a date with divisional rivals Guelph Thursday night at 7:15 p.m. at the bunker. That game kicks off a three-in-three stretch in which they also play Friday night in Kitchener and Saturday afternoon in Windsor.
