GRAVENHURST — Home ice advantage has not been a factor in the Greater Metro Jr. A Hockey League (GMHL) playoff semifinals between the South Muskoka Shield and the Bradford Rattlers.
In the best four-of-seven series, the Shield won both road games on Bradford’s ice. The Shield’s lone loss came Tuesday, March 9 in Bracebridge.
Some might find this surprising, but history has shown home ice is not an advantage for either of the clubs.
The Shield leads the series 2-1, but road wins are a trend that Shield coach Dallyn Telford must break in time for Game 4, which is being held Thursday night in Bracebridge. Game time is 8 p.m.
On Tuesday, March 9, Game 1 took place at Bracebridge arena where the Shield gave up a disappointing 4-3 loss.
It wasn’t a great effort for the home team, who might have been a little nervous with the new surroundings. Players were also a bit rusty as this was the team’s first game in 10 days.
“I thought we dominated the first 10 minutes in terms of shutting them down,” said Telford. “However, after that, we got away from our game plan. We looked exhausted by the middle of the second period and for the most part played a lazy game.”
Scoring first was the Shield’s Dylan Sontag with a power-play goal, assisted by Adam MacBeth and Dan Soderberg-Andersson.
Bradford scored the equalizer with just over three minutes remaining in the first frame.
Capitalizing on a number of second chances around the net, Bradford put another three markers — one on a power play — past Shield goalie Rob Sutherland in the second period.
Telford said Sutherland played well in net stopping all of the “first” shots except for Bradford’s first goal, which was scored on a partial breakaway.
“Before the series, we talked about how critical it is to not give Bradford second chances around the net. Their forwards are very skilled and usually make the most of their opportunities,” Telford said. “It turned out that three of their four goals were scored on second chances. If we are to win this series, this can’t happen.”
After a rebuke from their coach, the Shield did all the scoring in the third. Chad Meagher put one past Bradford’s Martin Bjork only 16 seconds into the period. Rob Childs added another with 2:17 remaining, but it wasn’t enough to steal the first game of the series from the Rattlers.
Telford said Bracebridge is a small rink so the plan was to put as many pucks on net as possible.
“We only shot 32 times which is not nearly enough,” he said in comparison to Bradford’s 45 shots on net. Most of the Shield’s scoring was attributed to the line of Meagher, Sontag and Ricky Greenslade.
Shield at Bradford in Game 2
The Shield looked like a totally different team from 48 hours earlier when they blasted the Rattlers in Bradford 7-3 on Thursday, March 11.
“We treated this game as a ‘must win’ and played with desperation for 58 minutes,” Telford said. “I was interested to see how we would respond to trailing in a series. This is the first time over the past two years that we have found ourselves in this position. By no means were we going to panic after the Game 1 loss; however, we certainly didn’t want to go down 2-0 and knew we are a much better team than we displayed in Bracebridge.”
Telford attributed the team’s success in Game 2 to hard work. All three lines contributed to scoring, as well as defenceman James Cook.
“We got to loose pucks first, won battles along the boards, played physical and skated both ways,” he said. “We didn’t give Bradford any breathing room and took away open ice.”
The Shield had a commanding 5-0 lead after two periods, but allowed three quick Bradford goals in the first three minutes of the third.
“We blinked and it was 5-3,” Telford said. “We will take this as a valuable lesson learned and now understand that Bradford is very capable of coming back no matter what their deficit. In order for us to win the series, we must play a full 60 minutes every night.”
Sutherland played well, turning aside 37 Bradford shots. The Shield put 45 shots on the Rattlers, who used two goaltenders in the game.
Scoring for the Shield were Jon Adams (2), Trevor Smith, Childs, Sontag, Meagher and Cook.
Shield earns Game 3 OT win
The South Muskoka Shield took a 2-1 lead in the playoff series after a 4-3 overtime win in Bradford Sunday night.
Both teams looked a little tentative on the ice and power plays continue to be a huge determining factor in the series.
Bradford scored first early in the game with the man advantage and added another to go up 2-0.
The Shield answered late in the period when Soderberg-Andersson scored on the power play to go into the intermission down 2-1.
Bradford took a 3-1 lead in the second period, and the Shield again scored late on the power play (Sontag) to cut the deficit to 3-2 heading into the final frame.
After a back and forth third period, Childs found the back of the net with just over a minute left in regulation time to force overtime.
After several chances in the four-on-four overtime, Meagher finished off a Dale Hatfield rebound to seal the 4-3 win.
The Shield outshot the Rattlers 40-34 and Sutherland played well in net. He was beat cleanly only once, Telford said.
“For us to go into Bradford and win two games after dropping the opener at home was huge,” he added. “It was important for us to stay positive and stick to our game plan, as we have been successful in doing so all year. We now return to Bracebridge for Game 4 on Thursday.”
Approximately 100 fans made the trip to Bradford Sunday night. Telford said players appreciate the support.
“It is amazing how much that helps a team get through a tough game,” he said. “It’s almost like having an extra body on the ice.”
In the other GMHL semifinal series, the Deseronto Storm leads the league champion Elliot Lake Bobcats 2-1.
Deseronto won Game 1 in overtime 3-2, Elliot Lake took Game 2 by a score of 6-3, and Deseronto shut out the Bobcats 7-0 in Game 3. Game 4 was scheduled for Monday, March 15 in Deseronto with the series returning to Elliot Lake on March 18.
The winners of each semifinal match face off in the championship game.