In these dark days of January when a losing streak lengthen, so, too, does a crevice letting in daylight: small signs of progress for the Kingston Frontenacs in a tailspin.
?We can see it coming,? coach Todd Gill said, alluding to a slow improvement in this winless calendar year. ?We?re a helluva lot better now than we were two weeks ago and we?ll be better once we get (suspended defenceman Miko) Vainonen back.?
Not good enough, however, to knock off the London Knights, one of the best junior clubs in the land, who came into the K-Rock Centre on Sunday itching for a win after dropping three of four.
The Frontenacs proved the right tonic for the Knights, who trimmed the locals 3-2 before an announced audience of 3,763.
?With the success we had during the win streak, teams have been coming hard against us, which is exactly what Kingston did (on Sunday),? said Knights defenceman and Limestone City product Scott Harrington.
Prior to their recent bout of hiccups, London had rattled off 24 straight wins, one shy of the Ontario Hockey League mark.
?We have a young team and a few of the guys were feeling it after we lost a few,? Harrington added. ?We?ll get back on track.?
Harrington, with a load of relatives and friends on hand, was a calming influence on the blue-line.
?He?s a leader,? said Matt Rupert, whose goal at 16:06 of Period 3 proved the winner. ?He?s always telling us what to do, keeping guys level-headed, helping the younger players.?
Harrington said he simply copied leaders who guided him through his early OHL seasons. ?If guys aren?t playing well, particularly the younger players, the last thing they need are the older guys coming down on them. Everyone has their ups and downs, so I just try to keep it light and positive.?
Dakota Mermis and Seth Griffith also tallied for the victors (37-9-1-2), who outshot Kingston 32-30.
Billy Jenkins and Ryan Hanes replied for the Frontenacs (20-23-2-2) whose winless skid reached eight games. Kingston, with a game in hand, remains nine points up on the Peterborough Petes for the eighth and final playoff spot.
?We were very solid at times but we also took four bad penalties, including three for high-sticking ? and one burned us at the end,? Gill said, referring to Sam Bennett?s blood-drawing double-minor with just over five minutes remaining in regulation.
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?It?s the old story: you have to crawl before you walk and walk before you run,? Gill said. ?We can see things working and getting better, but we?re not there yet.?
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The Frontenacs took it to the visitors in the opening 20 minutes, lifting a Sunday season-high gathering out of their seats on Jenkins? power-play marker 3? minutes in. Minutes later Bennett drew another grand cheer when he flattened London?s Max Domi with a open-ice hit.
London drew even early in the middle stanza, but the deadlock was broken just 63 seconds later on Hanes? first of the campaign.
The Knights knotted the score again on OHL points leader Griffith?s 31st of the year, a sharp-angle shot that eluded goaler Mike Morrison just past the midway point.
Tied 2-2 after two, the Knights came hard in the final frame, but Morrison held them at bay.
?Mo played his usual great game,? said Kingston rearguard Ryan Hutchinson.
?We didn?t get the win, but there were positives to take from this game.?
Thirty seconds after the first of Bennett?s double minor expired, Rupert collected a loose puck from behind the Kingston cage. In one quick, deft move, he brought the puck out and backhanded it over Morrison.
Less than a minute later, Jenkins, sent in alone from the blue-line, tried to go five hole on London goaler Anthony Stolarz, who closed his wickets in time.
The Fronts? fourth power play of the game came with a tad over three minutes remaining. London penalty killers and Stolarz nullified it effectively.
Stolarz made two saves in the dying seconds to secure the win.
?It?s a learning experience,? Knights coach Dale Hunter said of his team?s recent woes, brief as they were in comparison to, say, an eight-game slide. ?When you drop a few games, you have to know how to handle it.
?I?ll say this: It?s better to go through it now than in the playoffs. That?s how (favoured) teams get knocked off.?
Source: http://www.lfpress.com/2013/01/27/a-tonic-for-knights
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