GRAVENHURST — The South Muskoka Shield has fallen behind one place in the Greater Metro Jr. A Hockey League (GMHL) standings after a disappointing loss to the Innisfil Lakers Friday night on home ice.
Innisfil’s 4-3 victory bumped the Shield to third place with 58 points, despite the Shield’s additional two points from Saturday’s default win over the now-defunct Minden Riverkings. The 30-3-0-2 Bradford Rattlers lead the league with 62 points after an 8-3 win over Innisfil Sunday night. Elliot Lake (29-4-0-3) overtook the Shield for second place with 61 points after taking two wins over the weekend. The team now has a two-week break before facing the Shield on Feb. 5
With South Muskoka’s loss on Friday, the race for first tightens significantly. The Shield now has the same number of regulation losses as Bradford (3), and one less than Elliot Lake (4).
The team went into Friday’s game with a 3-0 record against the Lakers in regular season play. However, players showed a lack of intensity, effort and determination.
“We got outworked in every facet of the game and deserved to lose,” said head coach Dallyn Telford. “Again, we had a poor start as we fell behind 2-0 early.”
Unlike last weekend’s third-period win over the Brock Bucks, the Shield could not fight back from the deficit.
Goalie Rob Sutherland returned between the pipes after not seeing the ice since Dec. 9. He allowed two Innisfil goals in the first period.
“There were a couple soft goals, but he also made some great saves throughout the whole game,” said Telford. “We weren’t good from the net out. We were flat.”
Forward Ricky Greenslade potted the first marker for the home team with 46 seconds remaining in the first frame.
The second period saw both teams capitalize on power plays as Innisfil’s Jon Dew netted his second goal of the night and the Shield’s Adam MacBeth found a way past the Lakers’ Clint Windsor. Trevor Smith and Jon Adams assisted on the power-play goal.
Telford said the Shield’s power play for the most part was ineffective and looked sluggish. Also, missing from Friday night’s lineup were Dan Soderberg-Andersson and Rob Childs.
“We showed a lack of discipline at times, and we failed to compete in the ‘tough areas’ of the ice,” he said. “This now becomes a problem that has to be fixed. We need to find a way to come out of the gate with intensity and take control of games from the beginning.”
Heading into the final frame, the Lakers added one to their 3-2 lead when Donny Danroth scored two and a half minutes in.
Shield forward Dylan Sontag answered with an unassisted marker three minutes later.
South Muskoka kept fighting for the remainder of the period, pressing hard in the final four minutes to tie the match. The team was shut down on two occasions when shooters hit the posts and could not capitalize on a couple of other scoring chances.
The game ended on a fiery note when Innisfil’s Chase Steel was handed a bench minor for involvement in an altercation after he left his bench at the end of the game. The coach was also given a one-game disqualification for failing to have control of the bench.
Telford said the Shield’s 28-3-0-2 record is proof you can’t win them all.
“We’re defending the championship, so we get (our opponent’s) best every night,” he said. “Other teams want to knock us off, so it’s hard to win 42 games night after night, but we have to show some intensity down the stretch.”
The race between the Shield and rivals Bradford and Elliot Lake is tight with both teams holding games in hand on the Shield.
Telford planned to hold a “lengthy” team meeting Monday night where players would be asked for input on getting back on track as they have another tough weekend ahead of them.
The Shield faces the Algoma Avalanche at home Friday night at 7:30 p.m., followed by road games against the Toronto Canada Moose and league-leading Bradford Rattlers.