By Joel van der Veen
DAVIDSON — For the Davidson Cyclones, the best revenge was playing well.
The team bounced back on Feb. 12, recording a 7-2 win over the Dinsmore/Lucky Lake Dynamos — the minimum margin of victory needed for the Cyclones to move on to the next round of provincial “C” playoffs.
Manager Kirk Johnson said the team had put its primary focus on taking care of the score and leaving other challenges aside for the time being.
“They didn’t worry about what happened before,” he said. “Everybody put their best effort forward and they got ‘er done.”
The win followed a 6-2 loss to the Dynamos on Feb. 5, which had left the Cyclones in a do-or-die scenario for the second game in the total-point series.
Davidson was also left without its captain and second-leading scorer, Derek Allan, who was sidelined with a possible concussion in the previous game, owing to a hit by the Dynamos’ Carter Thomson.
Friday’s game opened with a tight first period. Both teams were held scoreless until the last four minutes, when Charles Inglis scored the first of two goals for Davidson.
Chris Henry then scored for the Dynamos, followed by Inglis’s second goal, setting the score at 2-1 for the Cyclones heading into the second period.
Davidson went on to enjoy a scoring streak, opened by Rhyse Dieno two minutes into the period. Tory Allan extended the Cyclones’ lead four minutes later with the first of three goals.
Midway through the period, Allan was tripped by a competitor while on a breakaway. He was awarded a penalty shot, which he successfully completed, bringing the score to 5-2.
Allan went on to achieve a hat trick, scoring a third goal with eight minutes remaining in the period. He was appropriately honoured by several young spectators, tossing about half a dozen hats on the ice to be collected by officials.
Justin Williams followed that up with a goal for the Dynamos, setting the score at 6-2 at the start of the third period.
The increasingly aggressive game reached its boiling point towards the end, as both the Cyclones’ Tory Allan and the Dynamos’ Carter Thomson were assessed game misconduct penalties due to fighting.
Finally, with 7:41 remaining in the game, Jared Molnar scored for Davidson, assisted by Charles Inglis, bringing the score to 7-2 and giving the Cyclones the necessary five-point lead.
Johnson noted that scoring that goal with Thomson looking on from the penalty box was probably “the best revenge we could ask for.”
He also had high praise for goaltender Brady Willner, calling his performance “unbelievable.”
“He was stopping stuff that I thought was going in,” said Johnson. “He was probably the difference, I would say.”
In the next round, the Cyclones face the Delisle Bruins in a two-game, total-point series. The first game was scheduled for Feb. 19 in Davidson, while the second will follow on Feb. 24 in Delisle.
The winner of that series will face either the Macklin Mohawks or the Eston Ramblers.