Following back-to-back losses last week, the 100 Mile House Wranglers turned the momentum around to secure two back-to-back wins this weekend.
While on the road on Friday, Jan. 31 the Wranglers faced the Kamloops Storm and beat them 2-1 in a close hard-fought game. They followed up this victory with a 3-1 win over the Williams Lake Mustangs on home ice on Sunday, Feb. 2. Wranglers head coach Levi Stuart said these victories are what his team needed after last week's defeats.
"It was a big weekend for sure. Getting the morale back up and the belief back up after a couple of tough losses last weekend," Stuart said. "It was nice to get two wins this weekend, especially against division rivals in regulation."
Stuart said their game against Kamloops was a tight one, noting that Kamloops is currently chasing the Wranglers in the standings. The Wranglers currently lead the Doug Birks Division with 45 points followed closely by Kamloops with 41 points, so a loss against the Storm would have been a setback.
Friday night's game was an intense one with the Storm scoring early in the first period. However, late in the second period, the Wranglers rallied with Nash Hilworth tying the game and Everett Boutcher taking advantage of a power play to pull ahead.
The third period proved to be the most dramatic with the Wranglers' defence and goalie Tyson Endall working together to foil Kamloops' attempts at tying the game. Stuart said that in the final few minutes, Endall was injured which meant Stuart had to rely on backup goalie Drew Cadenhead to fill the gap.
"Drew Cadenhead got his first time with us in the ice. Getting thrown in while he was cold with only a few minutes left in a 2-1 hockey game is a tough thing to do for a backup goalie coming in off the bench," Stuart remarked. "He came in and stood tall and got us the win and made some big saves."
Following their defeat on Friday, Stuart said the Storm went on to win on Saturday, Feb. 1 against the Merrit Centennials making the Wranglers' game against the Mustangs all the more important. It also marked Cadenhead's first official start with the Wranglers and he didn't disappoint.
"He held the door and looked really comfortable and calm. He made the saves he needed to make and held his ground for us. Definitely our best player of the game on Sunday," Stuart remarked.
Sunday's game saw the Wranglers take on a fast and offensive Williams Lake team, Stuart noted. While neither team were able to score a goal in the first period, near the end of the second period the Mustangs were able to sneak a goal past Cadenhead, only for Boutcher to tie the game seconds after.
During the opening minutes of the third period Hilworth was able to put the Wranglers in the lead. Despite the Mustangs' best efforts, they were unable to answer this goal with Wranglers Captain Ethan Davey scoring the third and final Wrangler goal of the night.
"Both games this weekend our defence played really well as a core. The six of them that played as a defence group played well. When you can have two games where you're only letting one goal in each game, you know your goalie is doing something well and your D is being smart and hard to play against."
Stuart said his team is still battling some injuries they've taken over the last few weeks with members of the offence, defence and two of his goal tenders all banged up in some way. His focus over the next few weeks is to get those players healthy and hold onto the top spot in the Doug Birks Division.
"Every game is going to be huge coming down the stretch here. It's going to come right down to the wire and we're just looking to try and get healthier every day," Stuart remarked. "A lot of guys were feeling it on Sunday with cuts and bruises but being able to play through the pain is huge."
