Admirals battle back to get a point against Dresden
- Fred Groves
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
A very competitive PJHL West Stobbs Division is telling the tale for the Amherstburg Admirals.
The Admirals dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Dresden Kings last Saturday night at the Libro Centre. Amherstburg leads the division with eight games decided in extra time, winning half of them.
If those games had gone in favour of the Admirals, they would have a better record than their current 12-18-4-0.
“Every night is going to be tough to win. I think there are seven good teams in this division, and that’s what’s happened,” said Admirals’ GM Andrew Sykes following Saturday’s loss.
The Essex 73’s remain the best team in the 61-team Provincial Junior Hockey League and fellow division Lakeshore Canadiens are ranked fourth. Combined with the huge improvement of the Blenheim Blades, the Admirals are poised to garner less points than they did last year.
“I know people were looking at our team going into the year saying we were going to be good and finish in the top four. I said it would be nice but there’s a lot more parity now,” noted Sykes.
Saturday’s game against the Kings was a fast-paced contest throughout which saw the Kings’ Cameron Graham give his side a 1-0 lead in the first.
Admirals’ veteran Brett Jones connected with his third powerplay goal of the night before the Kings jumped ahead 3-1 on a penalty shot tally by Ryan Bork and Graham notching his league-leading 34th of the year.
Amherstburg’s powerplay has improved in part due to a re-tooling that has captain Drew Booker going to the front of the net and causing havoc. That resulted in his notching his first powerplay goal of the year.
A blast from blueliner Jake Goudreault sent the game into overtime where, playing 3-on-3, it took Derek Nevills just 17 seconds to clinch it for the Kings.
“Tonight, we lose but still get a point. We are in a dog fight for fifth, sixth, seventh place. It’s a real good division,” said Sykes.
Last Tuesday night in Essex, it was scoreless after the first and tied 2-2 after 40 minutes. Rory Sandison scored twice, including one on the powerplay with the other Admirals goal, his first, coming from Holden Wiley.
“Our coaches were frustrated that we lost but I told them that since I have been the GM, that’s the best game we’ve played in Essex. We proved we can play with them,” said Sykes.
Amherstburg was scheduled to play the Blades in Harrow last Thursday but that game was postponed due to weather.
This Thursday, the Admirals head to Walpole Island to take on the Wild and host the 73’s at the Libro Centre next Saturday. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. The Wild are in Amherstburg Sunday for a 5 p.m. faceoff.
SLAPSHOTS… A couple of big milestones for the Admirals – Saturday night saw Brett Jones play in his 100th game and he now has a total of 79 points… Defenceman Jake Goudreault has also hit that games played mark this year.
Admirals battle back to get a point against Dresden
By Fred Groves
Comments