The First Grind of the Season
By: Michael Willoughby
The Burlington Cougars earned three of a possible eight points in their first busy stretch of the season, as they played four games in six days.
The Cougars began their first grind stretch of the season with a game at Central Arena last Tuesday against the Niagara Falls Canucks.
Midway through the first period, the Cougars went ahead when Mickael Tissier’s shot sailed past the Niagara Falls goaltender. Just 24 seconds into the second period, the Canucks levelled the score, and with under three minutes left in the frame, they took the lead for the first time in the game. The Cougars replied with a one-timer from Calder Anderson, who scored with 35.8 seconds remaining in the period.
Niagara Falls regained the lead 38 seconds into the third period. However, the Cougars answered back with goals from Zaiden Hraiche, two from Colin Ronalds, and Sean Short, resulting in a 6-3 win.
Cougars’ goalie Carter Vincente made 28 saves out of 31 shots in the victory, with Max Morin and Colin Ronalds each tallying three points. The team maintained their solid start on the power play, converting 3 of 5 opportunities.
Following the game, Cougars head coach Mark Jooris praised the team’s effort and their strong push in the third period.
“Well, always exciting for sure. I thought the kids played real hard, especially in the third period. Stuck to our game, and we got some bounces and got a few goals,” Jooris said.
“I thought our execution was better in the third. Our power play was really good. I think we had three power play goals, and you know Vinny (Carter Vicente) came up big through the game when we needed him, and yeah, I thought we just executed pretty well.”
Following the game, Short described to Cougars broadcaster Phil Edmunds how the team’s mindset shifted during the third period.
“We just had a mindset in the dressing room where it’s like, like our season’s not going anywhere unless we win. So kind of have to dial in, and hopefully going forward, we can get up early instead of the third period,” Short said.
Jooris outlined the game plan for the team’s first road game this season.
“Leamington’s a tough place to play. I mean, it’s the bigger rink, so you’ve got to really pay attention to details. Because there’s so much space there, and if you get too spread apart, they’re pretty good at that rink. So we’ve got to make sure we focus on shrinking the rink on defence,” Jooris said.
Thursday the Cougars headed south to Leamington for their season’s first away game.
In a tightly fought game, the Flyers gained the lead in the first period. Short scored his third goal of the season on the power play, with assists from Joshua Pinchak and Morin, tying the game for the visitors in the second period.
The game remained tied at 1-1 until 3:36 left in the third period, when the Flyers scored the winning goal. Burlington tried to convert with Vicente pulled for an extra attacker near the end but was unable to score, leading to a 2-1 loss.
The Cougars returned home to host the Collingwood Blues Friday at the Central Arena.
Vicente stood tall in goal, making 22 saves in the first period. The team was perfect on the penalty kill, going 4-for-4 in the game, but despite these efforts, the netminder and the Cougars couldn’t contain the Blues’ offence, resulting in a 6-0 defeat.
The team had the next day off before travelling to face the King Rebellion to conclude the busy slate of games on Sunday.
Before the game, Nick Kasich told broadcaster Phil Edmunds that the team must keep improving its fundamentals and focus on what it takes to win at the Zancor Centre in King.
“I think we just got to go off what we did in the second half of the second and the third period. We had played hard, we competed with them (Collingwood), and we were playing our game. If we continue that, we’ll have a good game today,” Kasich said.
“We gotta play hard. We gotta shoot more pucks. We’ve only had about 35 shots over the last two games, which isn’t significant. But yeah, I think we just need to get more on that.”
Kael Cooper opened the scoring for the Cougars with a goal from Thomas Kirkland at 3:54 in the first period. The Rebellion quickly responded within two minutes, tying the game at one. The game stayed tied until the Rebellion took the lead at 6:50in the third. However, the Cougars equalized with a goal from Hraiche, assisted by Ronalds and Short, at 9:51.
With the game tied at the end of regulation, the Cougars entered overtime for the first time this season, ensuring at least one point in the final result. In a well-contested extra session, the Cougars lost 3-2 on the road.
Despite a 1-3-1 record through the first five games of the season, there is a glaring positive to note about the team’s start.
Burlington is tied for tenth in the league and fourth in the Western Conference on the power play at 25.0%, while the team ranked ninth in the league overall and fifth in the conference with a penalty kill success rate of 86.4%.
The next game for the Cougars is back home at Central Arena on Friday September 18th against the Caledon Admirals. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 PM.
