GRAVENHURST — The South Muskoka Shield fought hard to stay in a playoff position after an embarrassing loss on the weekend.
The Shield lost 10-3 on home ice against the Bradford Rattlers on Friday.
The team, however, emerged with two wins in away games over the rest of the weekend. The Shield fought back with a 4-3 win in a shootout against Toronto Canada Moose on Saturday and came back with a 2-0 win against Bradford on Sunday.
Shield head coach Dallyn Telford called Friday’s game the worst effort of the year.
“Bradford is highly skilled and exposed our lack of work ethic by embarrassing us on home ice,” said Telford.
The Shield played tentatively and seemed overwhelmed by the explosive Bradford offence, he said. Aside from a five-minute span in the second period, the team was dominated in every facet of the game, Telford said.
“We did not follow our game plan and played as individuals,” he said.
But the team turned it around in a tough game on Saturday. The Shield bounced back to earn a 4-3 win against the league’s most improved team, the Toronto Canada Moose.
“Toronto has steadily climbed the standings and are now in the playoff picture after a horrible 4-14 start,” said Telford. “We knew this would be a tough game as they are a fast, good puck-moving team.”
Telford said the Moose are solid defensively and are fighting to stay in a playoff position.
The fast-paced game was tied 3-3 after overtime. After three shooters each, it was still tied.
Moving to a sudden-death shootout, Jon Adams buried a high shot inside the post while Rob Sutherland stopped the Moose shooter to secure the win, said Telford.
The team continued the strong effort in its second game of the weekend against the Rattlers on Sunday.
“After being blown out just 48 hours earlier by the Rattlers, we responded with our best team effort of the season,” said Telford. “This game was a must-win to keep our hopes of finishing first overall alive.”
Telford said the team, finally sticking to its game plan, shut down the best offence in the league and the league’s leading scorer. It handed Bradford its first-ever regular season shutout loss.
No team has been able to shut out the Rattlers during the last four years, said Telford.
“Our penalty killing was excellent, our power play was sharp and in general, everyone played a great game,” said Telford.
Rob Sutherland was spectacular in net in his third game in as many days, Telford said. The Shield outworked Bradford in all areas of the rink and despite having two goals called back and hitting two goalposts, the players found a way to stay focused and positive.
“Going into the game, we knew that we simply gave Bradford a win on Friday and felt we needed redemption and had something to prove. What a great way to end a very tough weekend schedule,” said Telford.
The Shield is now in second place in the standings, just below the Bradford Rattlers. The Shield’s 30-4-2 record gives them 62 points as of Jan. 31.
Next up for the Shield are two away games, on Feb. 4 in Algoma and on Feb. 5 in Elliot Lake.