WALLACE NETS TWO AS RANGERS OPEN SERIES ON WINNING NOTE

 

GLANBROOK (Mar. 9) — Joel Wallace scored twice to pace the Glanbrook Rangers to a tense 5-3 triumph over the Hagersville Hawks in the opening game of their South Bloomfield Division playoff series.

Hagersville has been something of a nemesis for the Rangers this season;  all of the games have been tight, low-scoring battles and Glanbrook only managed a 2-1-1-1 record against the Hawks, who finished sixth in the division with only eight wins.  So, it’s no surprise that the Rangers were expecting a challenge.

“They’ve played us tough all year,” said Rangers coach Andrew Tait.  “We expected them to work hard and we came prepared for a battle.”

What was a surprise, however, is that in the early going, the Rangers seemed to have found the magic formula to counter whatever spell the Hawks held over them.  They outskated, outhit and outscored the Hawks and held a comfortable 4-1 lead by the end of the second period.

“We knew if we wanted to beat them, we were going to have to match their intensity early and not let them get involved from the start,” Wallace said.  “We expected a physical game and embraced that style.  We wanted to get the puck deep and work it down low on their defencemen, tiring them out and creating chaos.  Making their jobs harder would only benefit us.”

Brandon Boyd kicked things off for Glanbrook, swatting home a shot from the slot at 7:40 of the first frame.  After Hagersville’s  James Johnston knotted things at 1-1 a couple of minutes later, the Rangers found an even higher gear and tallied three straight goals.   Wallace rifled a bullet past Hawks goalie Gavan Banga from the faceoff circle at 17:00 of the first, then Cooper Hood and Wallace with his second, stretched the margin with second-period markers.

And that’s when things started to go wrong.

The third period was a penalty-box parade for the Rangers, who spent the bulk of the period short-handed (whether all of the penalties were merited or not is up for debate) and consequently saw their lead perilously dwindle.  Bevan Aitchison struck for the Hawks just 58 seconds into the third (and a mere seven seconds into the Rangers’ first penalty of the stanza).  The Rangers were tagged with three more infractions in the ensuing 12 minutes, which they managed to survive, but with the result that whatever momentum the hosts had was drained away and they were left struggling to hang on.   And it was fifth time unlucky for Glanbrook when Brendan Judson brought the Hawks to within one at 17:27 on yet another man advantage.

“We took our foot off the gas and started to play undisciplined,” Tait said.   “We went to the box too much and allowed them to capitalize on their power plays.  We know that playoff wins depend on special teams, but sometimes emotions take over and you lose your control.  We got caught up in the heat of a playoff game, when we needed to take a deep breath and settle down.”

Fortunately, for the Rangers, Sean Golebiowski managed to drift a clearing shot from deep in his own zone into the unguarded net to stymie once and for all the Hawks’ fierce bid for a comeback and put the Rangers on top 1-0 in the series and, hopefully, set the tone going forward.

Preparing for game two we expect another similar game,” Wallace said.  “Our goal will be to play a full 60 minutes and not take any shifts off as anything can happen in playoffs. By this stage of the season, we all know our roles and it is now up to us to show up and excel in what we are good at individually and as a team.”

NOTES:  Mitch Robinson turned aside 22 shots to record the win in net for Glanbrook … The Rangers outshot the Hawks 37-25 on the game, but managed only six shots in the climactic third period … Ryan Burke collected two assists, while Ethan Cloutier, Daniel Vella, Andrew Miele, Harrison Farrugia and Brennan Ireland added singles … Hagersville went 2-for-7 on the power play, while Glanbrook countered with one goal on their four man-advantages.

PHOTOS