ELMIRA - Stratford Cullitons control their own destiny . . . at least as far as fifth place in the Midwestern Conference is concerned.
Here Sunday night, the Tribe pulled into a fifth-place tie with Elmira with a solid 5-2 victory over the Sugar Kings in front of about 625 fans. The win also put a stop to a three-game Stratford losing streak, while Elmira suffered its sixth loss in the last seven games.
Cullitons (22-27-1) and Kings (20-25-5) have 45 points following weekend action. Both teams has one regular-season game remaining. Stratford completes its 51-game schedule with a home game against Kitchener Dutchmen (16-31-1) Friday night. Elmira hosts third-place Listowel Cyclones (26-22-1) Sunday evening.
The first tie-breaker is wins, and Cullitons have two more than the Kings. A victory over the Dutchmen would give Stratford fifth spot, and most likely a first-round playoff date with the fourth-place Cambridge Winter Hawks (23-21-5).
“It won’t give us any home-ice advantage, but fifth place is a small goal that we’re shooting for,” coach Phil Westman told the Gazette. “I guess it’s the small accomplishments you want to achieve right now.”
At the Allman Arena Friday night, coach Westman and his coaching staff were searching for answers after a disappointing 3-2 loss to the lowly Guelph Hurricanes in front of about 950 fans.
Hurricanes won the season series 4-2, defeating Cullitons for the fourth time in their last five meetings.
Stratford 5 - Elmira 2
At Woolwich Memorial Arena Sunday night, Cullitons won the season series 4-2 with their first win on Elmira ice this season.
Goals by Tyler Masson and Brad McClure, his 27th on a powerplay, staked the Tribe to a 2-0 first-period lead.
Second-period powerplay goals by Myles Melchers and defenceman Craig Dalrymple (his 19th) put the visitors in front 4-0 before Josh Woolley finally put Elmira on the scoresheet late in the frame.
Kings’ Riley Sonnenburg narrowed the margin to 4-2 at 6:07, but that’s as close as the home team would get as Kyle Wilhelm (his 24th) scored into an empty Elmira net with 65 seconds remaining.
“Our powerplay was working real well, and it was a game that we were pretty well in control of all night,” coach Westman reported.
“We wanted to right our game, and playoffs are what it’s all about. That’s when the real hockey starts. We wanted to get back on the right track, not that we’ve solved all our problems with one win in Elmira, but we’ll take every two points that we can get.
“Evan (Groenestege) was good in net as well, so I was real happy with our effort and so were the boys. We were all happy with the way things turned out.”
Groenestege made 39 saves for his 14th win as Elmira out-shot Stratford 41-35. Brock Reynolds earned assists on the first two Cullitons’ goals.
Guelph 3 - Stratford 2
On Friday night at the Allman, Cullitons dropped their three straight one-goal decision when Hurricanes’ Martin Kudla scored his second of the game with 4:28 remaining--snapping a 2-2 tie.
The breakaway winner came just 65 seconds after Craig Dalrymple had pulled the Tribe even on a powerplay.
Guelph won all three games between the two teams at the Allman this winter, and the Stratford dressing room wasn’t a happy place after Friday’s defeat.
“Our mental preparation for these games and the intensity just isn’t there,” Westman said glumly. “It becomes contagious. We go up the ice, we miss a pass and we miss a check, and then the next line does it. It’s tough to build momentum off the little mistakes that we make.
“I thought we out-played them, but they’d come down and score and take our momentum away.”
Kudla and Kyle Wilhelm traded first-period goals, and it stayed that way until Mike McFarlane put Hurricanes ahead 2-1 on a powerplay with 8:34 left in the third.
Dalrymple gave the Cullitons new life when he fired a nice shot over goalie Chris McDougall’s left shoulder at 14:27. But the celebration was short-lived as Kudla broke free just over a minute later and beat goalie Cody Vinnai up high from close range.
Westman pulled Vinnai for an extra attacker, but the Tribe couldn’t mount any sustained pressure in the final minute.
“It’s disappointing,” assistant coach Dan Forget added. “Goal scorers have to score and checkers have to check, and it’s not happening right now. When we turn over the puck, we’re not reacting enough defensively as a group and we paid for it tonight. We have to look after both ends of the ice.”
Cullitons’ sluggish performance came as no surprise to Westman.
“I knew Wednesday night at the practice that we were going to have a real tough game tonight,” he pointed out. “Guys weren’t talking and we didn’t have a lot of jump at practice.
“It’s hard when you don’t practice well to think you can show up on Friday night and play well. We didn’t pay enough of a price at practice to deserve to win.
“It’s pretty depressing the way we’re playing right now.”
McDougall was steady all night, making 36 saves.
Notes:
• A win over Kitchener this Friday would give Cullitons a 4-4 record for February.
• It may not mean much to either player, but Kyle Wilhelm (24-36-60) and Cohen Adair (23-37-60) go into the final regular-season game tied for the team scoring lead.
• Craig Dalrymple fired his 13th powerplay goal of the campaign Sunday. The big defenceman shares the team lead in that category with Wilhelm.
• First place is on the line this Saturday in Brantford when the Golden Eagles host Waterloo Siskins. Brantford (41-5-4) goes into the weekend with a one-point lead on Waterloo (42-6-1), which also has a game in hand. The teams have split six games to date.
Siskins go into the game on a 10-game winning streak, while the Eagles have won seven in a row.
Waterloo finishes its schedule with a home game against Kitchener Sunday.
