Story Courtesy Portageonline.
The Portage Terriers suffered their sixth straight loss on Saturday Night. The Dogs were taken down 2-1 by the Selkirk Steelers on home ice.
The game started with a tribute to former trainer and equipment manager Geno Romanow. His widow Diane, son Randy, and Daughter Lisa were ice level to take part in the ceremony. The Geno Tunnel was unveiled by Logan Calder who is the last active Terrier who played when Geno was with the team. A shadow box was also unveiled honouring Geno on the Hockey Wall of Fame.
Once the game started the scoring began when the Terriers turned it over in their own zone and the puck quickly went down to Sheldon Howard, who had a man with him in tight. The former Terrier fed Ryan Ostermann and his one-timer went in the open cage. 1-0 Steelers.
Cameron Hibbert skated around the boards and through the slot, making multiple defenders miss in the process. As he came in tight, he dished the puck to a cutting Lucas Brennan at the side of the net, who made no mistake about it. This gave Selkirk the 2-0 lead, which they kept ahold of until into the second frame.
In the first intermission the Terriers unveiled the jerseys of 11 alumni from the 1930’s and 40’s who went on to play in the NHL. Many of their families were able to attend the celebration.
With five minutes left to play in the second, the Steelers turned the puck over in their own zone. Logan Calder found the puck on his stick and immediately fired a shot, which trickled behind Selkirk goalie Cole Plowman but didn’t cross the red line. However, Brenden Holba was there to jam the puck in and trim the lead to just one. The score remained 2-1 to end the period.
Early in the third period, Chris Fines went behind his net to play the puck but it was stolen away by Tristan Thompson. He casually went for a wrap-around attempt but Fines, somehow, was able to recover and make a huge stop for Portage.
Despite a plethora of chances in the third, the Terriers couldn’t manage to score again and the final result remained 2-1.
Team captain Logan Calder says things just couldn’t seem to go their way in the final frame.
“I think it was just some bad puck luck coming our way,” Calder explains. “We had a couple of pucks stick in our feet and just not bounce our way. So, I think if we just tighten up in front of their net, we’ll score some more goals.”
While there were some bad bounces for Portage, Calder says they wouldn’t have needed luck if they played hard from the opening puck drop.
“I think we could’ve come out a lot stronger than we did,” says Calder. “I think it’s a mentality thing, we have to come to the rink ready to go night in and night out. We can’t wait 10-20 minutes to start playing hockey.”
The Terriers will hope to bounce back next week as they have two more meetings with the Steelers. The first of which takes place Friday, November 5, at Stride Place.
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