The Quesnel Crossfire lost 14-7 on Thursday night (May 24) to a Prince George Bandits team that was forced to use its back-up goaltender on the floor.
With only three substitutions available at any one time, the Bandits used their veteran savvy to control the pace and keen eye for holes to space the floor and manoeuvre around the Crossfire defense, seemingly scoring at will in the opening two periods.
As terrific as the local fellas have played against every other team in the league, they have been unable to replicate that success against a Bandits squad, who have consistently frustrated them.
“At times, we just gotta keep it cool, as hard as it is sometimes,” says Bryston Waffle, who notched an assist and a couple penalty minutes during the game.
“They get going, we get going.
“Especially a score difference like that, it gets frustrating.”
Loose balls were a bothersome issue with the Crossfire throughout the contest.
Despite having what seemed like triple the players, they couldn’t muster the energy or concentration to gather “loosies,” particularly in the offensive zone.
The Bandits seized a hold of such opportunities, taking advantage of defensive turnovers to score goals that deflated their opponents.
Rough play would often follow the swings in possession, and the Crossfire frequently paid for it with time spent killing penalties.
“They’re all pretty young and they all feed off each other, so they get a little emotional out there,” says Drew Doig, the league’s leading scorer and the focus of much of the Quesnel team’s vexation.
Doig finished the night with four goals and five assists, routinely twisting and writhing his way through hits on all sides to take what looked like impossible shots on a shell-shocked Tomas Reistad.
“It’s hard playing on these big wide nets when guys can shoot,” Doig says in defence of the Crossfire goalie.
“And we all shoot pretty hard.”
Bandits backstop Liam Miller, who turned away 43 shots on the night, couldn’t have looked more relaxed in net.
The Crossfire must have had close to a dozen breakaway chances that he deflected away calmly.
According to Doig, Miller is playing the best net of his career after shedding some weight in the off season.
The home team only managed two goals on him through the first couple periods, but started having a bit more luck exposing his mortality in the third.
Cole Daniels fed JD Moore for a pretty marker on a two-on-one play, and Levi Robertson stepped into an absolute scorcher of a shot from the point as part of a five-goal period to stave off the blowout.
The Crossfire hope to have better luck at their next home game versus the Stylers May 30 at 8 p.m.