Keith’s road trip a rough one

Jonathan Riley

DIGBY COURIER

NovaNewsNow.com

The Valley Keith’s had an eventful and rough road trip last weekend.

− They started off with a hammering in Clare

− ran into white out conditions on the drive to Truro

− waited for referees for an hour because of the weather in Brookfield

− struggled back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Crunch

− ran into more snow over Mount Nuttby on the way to Tatamagouche

− fell behind 4-1 to the Storm

− and lost that game by a goalpost.

Despite only bringing home two points from a three-game road trip, GM Steve Clayton says the experience was a positive one.

“It was a great weekend really. This will pay dividends down the road – being together and staying together all weekend, getting to know each other better one on one.

“The way we played this weekend, coming from behind like we did – they’ve got it in their heads now that if they get focused and get to work, they can make some of these impossibilities happen.”

The Keith’s had yet to learn that lesson for the game in Clare on Friday, Feb. 2. That 8-4 loss was especially disappointing as it put the kibosh to the mathematical possibility of finishing in second place and gaining home ice advantage for the playoffs.

The Lions pounced early – three minutes into the game they were up 3-0.

Their first goal was their typical backdoor play: Mario Blinn raced in behind Matt Mckeagan to knock home a pass from Rejean Deveau less than a minute in.

Blinn racked up a hattrick and assisted Deveau to make it 7-2 with six minutes left.

The Keith’s mounted a mini comeback in the dieing minutes of the game – Mike Dauphinee flipped a puck up over the Colin LeBlanc and Bobby Morgan found the mark with an easy wrist shot from inside the blue line. 7-4 with four minutes left.

But Ryan Gallant burst that bubble 20 seconds later – 8-4 Clare and that’s how she ended.

The game in Brookfield started out the same but had a happier ending. The Keith’s were behind 3-1 half way through the second but fought their way back to a 4-3 win. Andrew George scored twice for the Keith’s while both Dauphinee and Jared Brown had two assists.

Affiliate player Adam Gorman played his first game in nets for the Keith’s and the 16-year-old impressed Clayton.

“He says he was nervous but he didn’t show it – he held his end up okay.”

Clayton says the boys played like they meant it in Tatamagouche – although maybe not right off the bat.

“A couple of guys thought they were smarter than the ref and they spent some time in the box for that.”

While they were in the penalty box, the Storm scored six power play goals. Tatamagouche led 5-1 ten minutes into the second. That’s when the Keith’s started learning says Clayton.

In just five minutes they turned the score on its head and made it 6-5.

The Storm came back again in the third and were ahead 8-6 with a minute to go. George made it 8-7 with 40 seconds to go and on the very next play Dauphinee rattled on off the goalpost – close but no cigar.

Dauphinee nonetheless had two goals and three assists to bring his weekend total to four goals and five assists. George’s weekend total was four goals and four assists. Brown had six assists.

The Keith’s next and final game of the season is at home against the Barrington Ice Dogs on Sunday, Feb. 11. That game won’t mean anything in terms of league standings but since the Keith’s face the Ice Dogs in the first round of the playoffs, it could mean everything in terms of momentum.

jriley@digbycourier.ca



Road trip results

Friday, Feb. 1

Clare 8 – Valley 4

Saturday, Feb. 3

Brookfield 3 – Valley 4

Sunday, Feb. 4

Tatamagouche 8 – Valley 7



Last regular season game

Sunday, Feb. 11

At home against Barrington at 2 p.m.