They played hard and gave it their all.
But in the end, that was the problem as the Quesnel Kangaroos’ drive to the Central Interior Hockey League championships came to a halt Saturday night with an 8-5 loss against the Stampeders in Williams Lake.
The Kangaroos pressed hard on the forecheck, often forcing the Stamps to turnover the puck in their own end or in the neutral zone.
But as the game wore on, the Stamps found a way to make break out passes, catching three ‘Roos behind the goal line.
“We were over-committing and one pass beat three guys,” Kangaroos assistant coach Steve Williams said.
The pent up energy also led to some discipline problems with the Kangaroos as they handed the Stampeders too many powerplays and the Stamps took advantage.
“It’s been our problem all year,” ’Roos forward Curtis Gassoff said.
“They have the best powerplay in the league and we knew that coming in.
“We can kill a few penalties, but not 10.”
Despite the loss, the Kangaroos will still make the trip to the Coy Cup in March.
Saturday’s game against the Stamps saw the ‘Roos jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes of play thanks to Rigby Burgart who was Johnny-on-the-spot at the side of the net to tip in a point shot for his first goal and then showed great hustle as he lunged to slip the puck five-hole on Stamps netminder.
The ‘Roos had the Stamps on their heels after some tentative play in the early goings, but that all changed as the boys from Quesnel took two penalties on the same play, to nullify their own powerplay and hand the Stamps a 4-3 man advantage.
The Stamps have been great on the powerplay all season, and they didn’t hold back Saturday night as the scored the first of five powerplay goals on the night to pull within one.
Just moments later the Stamps tied up the score at 2-2 with the teams playing four aside.
It was a dirty goal off a dinky shot from a bad angle that found its way behind ‘Roos netminder Ryan Manderson.
But were it not for Manderson, the Stamps would have buried the ‘Roos.
Manderson, as with the previous game, made several big-time saves to keep his team in the game. Unfortunately, his teammates couldn’t find a way to stay out of the penalty box.
The Kangaroos started the second period, just as they started the first.
With play opening up in the early going of the second period, both sides had some good chances, but it was the ‘Roos who capitalized as they hopped to a 4-2 lead in the early going.
The ‘Roos had their opportunities to extend their lead several times over, but Foote made some big saves to minimize the damage and keep his team within a couple of goals.
Once again, with a two-goal lead, the ‘Roos took a couple of penalties and the Stamps made them pay as they knotted up the score 4-4.
The ‘Roos did regain the lead late in the second period as Burgart, standing behind the red line, feathered a nice pass to Justin Fulton who made no mistake shovelling the puck over Foote’s outstretched glove hand.
The third period belonged to the Stampeders.
Less than a minute into the final frame, the Stamps tied up the game with a powerplay goal, then went ahead with a fluke goal on a shot from the left point that hit a stick and floated up and over Manderson’s shoulder. By the time Manderson found the puck it was already over his shoulder.
The Stamps scored their fourth powerplay goal of the game and added an empty net game to round out the score to 8-5.
“It’s tough to lose a game in the third period,” Gassoff said.
“It’s two games in a row we dominated all game at even strength and it comes down to penalties.
“It’s a little sore right now.”
The Kangaroos now have a couple of weeks to rest up and rethink their strategy as the Stampeders and Smithers Steelheads go head to head for the CIHL title.
Heading into the Coy Cup, Williams said his message to the team was to stay committed, to keep working hard to stay in shape.
Williams also indicated defense is going to be an important focus of team practices.
“We need to shore up defensively,” he said.
“We have no problem scoring goals.
“We have to figure out our own zone.”