NIPAWIN—A good set of special teams can make the difference between winning and losing in the playoffs.
The Nipawin Hawks were the benefactors of that theory in Game 2 against Humboldt.
The Hawks scored five times, all on special teams, as they picked up a 5-3 win over the Broncos in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action from Nipawin on March 31.
The win completes a two-game home ice sweep for the Hawks, who now lead their series with the Broncos 2-0, with Games 3 and 4 back in Humboldt April 3 and 4.
“Up two is a lot better than down two or tied and we’ve just got to keep focused and nothing’s over. It’s whoever gets to four first and hopefully we can,” noted Doug Johnson, the Hawks’ head coach, on taking care of home ice.
It was an incredible night for the Hawks’ power play as they finished the evening 4-for-5 with the man advantage.
After managing just a 1-for-7 showing on the power play in Game 1, the improvement in game two was incredible, which simply came down to making the simple play, said Johnson, who noted he team over complicated things on the power play in Game 1.
“We tried to make it fancy and video, I thought, Saturday morning before Game 2 helped a lot, let the guys see some things and we just kept the power play a lot more simple in game two and it created the opportunities, the chances we were looking for.”
Their penalty kill, meanwhile, was not quite as sharp as they allowed two goals on six chances against.
The black and gold did manage to score a shorthanded marker, their second in two nights.
The Hawks’ success offensively on the penalty kill comes down to outworking Humboldt, said Johnson, who admitted they also got a fortunate break.
“We got a fortunate bounce no doubt about that. It took a funny bounce off the boards that caught Tobin by surprise and we outworked Humboldt getting back. We have to outwork teams on the penalty kill especially and I thought we did a nice job of that.”
Brett Harasymuk led the charge offensively for the Hawks, registering a goal and two assists, while Tyler Adams, Logan Casavant, and Grant Baetsen chipped in with a goal and one assist each.
Brandan Arnold rounded out the scoring for the Hawks, while Josh McDougall picked up three assists.
Declan Hobbs picked up the win in the Hawks goal turning aside 20 shots for his sixth win of the playoffs.
Bryce Fiske, Conner Lukan and Jaxon Joseph answered for the Broncos, managing one goal and one assist each.
Parker Tobin was charged with the loss in the Broncos goal allowing three goals on 11 shots before being lifted in favour of Jacob Wassermann, who came in and turned aside 21 of the 23 shots he faced.
The game got off to an excellent start for the black and gold as Arnold and Adams scored power play goals 3:38 apart, and Harasymuk added a shorthanded marker 5:02 later, giving the Hawks a commanding 3-0 lead after the first.
Despite the massive hole, the Broncos refused to quit, and began clawing back in the second period as Joseph got the green and gold on the board with his seventh of the playoffs, just 2:04 in with a power play marker.
After Lukan scored his second of the playoffs at even strength, the green and gold completed the second period comeback, as Fiske beat Hobbs on the power play at 15:12 to tie thescore at three.
After a dominant first period, Johnson said it was a combination of complacency and penalties, that was nearly their undoing in the second.
“There’s a few bounces we’d like to have back but you work for your bounces and I thought Humboldt outworked us in the second period.”
Fortunately for the Hawks, the Broncos could not stay out of the penalty box and it cost them, as Casavant scored on the power play, 1:39 later to put the Hawks back in front.
The home side held on to their 4-3 lead for the majority of period three, until an Xavier Labelle high sticking double minor put the Hawks back on the power play.
The Broncos did manage to kill off the first two minutes of Labelle’s penalty, but they failed to kill of the second half, as Baetsen scored his second of the playoffs with 2:22 to play, giving the Hawks a commanding 5-3 lead.
Despite nearly blowing a 3-0 lead, Johnson was pleased to see his club stick with it and pull out the win, as it would have been easy with the game spiraling out of control to lose focus.
“I thought that late goal in the second by Logan was huge for us and again a simple play. Just moved the puck the way we wanted to, got a shot, banged in a rebound. Nothing incredibly fancy but effective and that’s kind of been our motto. You don’t been to be fancy, we just need to be effective and a lot of times the simplest play is the correct play.”
After coming back in the second, the Broncos could not pull off the feat again in the third period as Hobbs shut the door for the final two-plus minutes, giving the Hawks the win.
With the win the Hawks find themselves in an excellent position.
The black and gold will look to edge one game closer to their first SJHL league final since 2001, when the Hawks visit the Broncos for Game 3 on April 3.
Game 4 of the series, will come April 4 in Humboldt.
The Hawks head to Humboldt in a familiar position, as they also held a 2-0 lead on Flin Flon in Round 1.
The Hawks went on to lose Game 3 in Flin Flon, and for the black and gold to avoid a repeat in this series Johnson said his club needs to be ready to outwork the home side.
“If we can outwork them, eliminate time and space, take care of the things that don’t need any skill, we’ll be fine.”
