The Davidson Cyclones senior hockey team lit the lamp three times in the second period while on their way to a 6-1 road win last Wednesday against the Nokomis Chiefs.
Jason Shaw, head coach of the Cyclones, said they dominated the play during the middle frame, which was book-ended by an even first and a quiet third. He said Nokomis doesn’t play a physical style, so that makes for a bit of a different game for them, but the most important thing is they still got the win.
“We were short staffed, but we played pretty good. The guys that were there played well. Brady Willner played pretty good in net,” said Shaw. Chad “Manz had a breakaway goal (4:43 into the second to put the Cyclones up 2-1), which was pretty good and then Carter (Smith) had a nice shorthanded goal. I guess with guys gone it gives different guys a chance to play a little bit more.”
The penalty kill goal by Smith, who also picked up two assists, came after Zach Sim scored his first of two on the night on the power play. Colton Allan and Rance Anderson also figured into the scoring with Allan potting the opening goal for the Cyclones to even up the score at 1-1 less than a minute after Tyler Hartmann gave the Chiefs their only lead of the game and Anderson scored the final goal with a little over five minutes left in the third. Davidson forward Cody Danberg didn’t find the back of the net against Nokomis, but he did add to his league leading point total that now sits at 24 after he picked up three assists during the game.
Shaw said it was especially nice to see Smith back on the ice and helping them out on special teams after suffering through an injury earlier in the year. He said the improved power play and penalty kill has also come around just through players chatting amongst themselves about what works and what doesn’t.
“During games (players are) talking about what we want to do power play wise (and) where we want to set up,” he said. “The first part of the season, especially on the power play, we had some chances (and) we just couldn’t score. Then on the penalty kill we’ve cut our penalties down quite a bit, but we’ve just as we’ve gone along change it up how we want to defend against their team’s power play and it seems to be working.”
After a slow start to the season the Cyclones (3-3-1) seem to have found their stride going two-and-two over the past four games, but keeping each of them fairly close with the big win against the Chiefs being the lone exception.
“For the rest of the year anybody can beat anybody,” said Shaw. “Nokomis had two wins and they’re on the bottom (of the standings) and Watrous is on the top with five, so we got to come every night to play well. As long as we can get three lines and four or five (defencemen) it gives us a chance every night.”