Canadiens Push Eagles to Brink in Game 4

Article by I. Schoonderbeek / Media by C. Archer

The Clarington Eagles travelled back to Belle River Wednesday evening, looking to even up their Schmalz Cup final series against the Lakeshore Canadiens. Instead, they find themselves on the brink of elimination after dropping a 4-2 decision in game four.

Clarington faced a tall task heading into Thursday’s contest, needing to quickly find their legs after a four-and-a-half-hour bus trip. It would take a few shifts for the Eagles’ skaters to find their stride, as Lakeshore pressured them in their own end early and forced Oliver Webster to make a number of good saves in the Clarington goal.

But at 4:43 of the first, the visitors opened the scoring on only their second shot of the game. Veteran Kolby Poulin skated the puck the length of the ice on the play. As he entered the offensive zone, Poulin dropped a pass to a trailing Cole Williamson, who buried a perfect shot past the goaltender’s glove hand.

But before the period was through, the Canadiens would even things up. A missed coverage in the Clarington end left a Lakeshore shooter wide open in the faceoff circle. He quickly snapped a shot from the dot that beat Webster short side.

Lakeshore jumped out to a 2-1 lead midway through the second frame on a powerplay when a point shot was tipped into the roof of the net from in front of the crease.

However, the Eagles would respond on a powerplay opportunity of their own at the 15:54 mark. A rebound off a Kyle Shepherd shot from the top of the circle bounced to the left of the Lakeshore goal where Trevor Urquhart was waiting to snap the puck into the yawning cage.

Eagles fans at the Fionn MacCool’s watching party cheer after the second-period goal from Urquhart:

The teams headed into the third period tied at 2-2.

Midway through the third, a hard hit in the Clarington end led to a turnover, which was quickly centred to a wide-open Lakeshore skater in the slot. He made no mistake, sniping a perfect shot past Webster to put the Canadiens up 3-2.

Shortly after the go-ahead goal, the Canadiens had an excellent opportunity to blow the game wide open on a long five-on-three powerplay with regular penalty-killers Ethan Schoonderbeek and Nolan Matheson both in the box for the Eagles. Despite Lakeshore directing plenty of pucks on net, the Clarington penalty kill held the Canadiens’ shooters to the outside and were quick to clear rebounds from the net-front area. Webster again came up with several huge saves on the shots that made it through to allow the Eagles to come out of the outnumbered situation unscathed.

The Eagles pulled Webster for an extra attacker late in the contest, but a turnover at the Lakeshore blueline was fired the length of the ice into the open goal to seal the Lakeshore win.

For the third consecutive game, the Eagles fell short in the third period and now find themselves with their backs against the wall, down 3-1 in the series. “At 2-2 going into the third, we gave ourselves a chance to win,” said Clarington coach Dean Baumhauer after the game. “We didn’t have that little extra push we needed after we tied it up and had them on their heels a little bit. At the end of the day, you’ve probably got to be perfect to beat that team.”

Clarington was only able to muster three shots on goal in the final frame. “For whatever reason, the last two games we haven’t been able generate any offence in the third period,” said Dean. “Part of the problem when you lose guys like Davies, Manarin and Gaylor, is you have other players playing elevated minutes in roles that they’re not quite ready for. Playing a talented, healthy team like Lakeshore, you need your full lineup, and even then it’s going to be tough.“

The loss of Mitch Davies, in particular, has struck a heavy blow to the Eagles’ lineup. The feisty winger had been their best forward through the first four playoff rounds before his season-ending suspension. When the team needed a big goal, or a big hit to get them rolling, Davies had consistently delivered over the past three seasons. The way this Schmalz Cup final series has played out thus far would have been tailor-made for an impact player of Davies’ ilk.

Despite the obvious disappointment in the Clarington room, Baumhauer was not looking to put any further pressure on his club after Wednesday’s loss. “We’ve come this far and I don’t want to take away from all these guys have accomplished all year. We’re playing game 71 of the season. They’re giving me everything they can, and we’re not going down without a fight.”

So the Eagles will return to Rickard Arena Friday evening with their backs to the wall. They face a tough uphill battle the rest of the way, needing three straight wins against an experienced opponent to claim the Schmalz Cup. Crazier things have happened. Clarington did win three straight in the semifinal against Hanover to punch their ticket to the final. The difference in that series was the Eagles weren’t facing the added pressure of elimination in any of those games.

Puck drop Friday in Bowmanville is 8:00 pm.