After three weeks between puck drops, the Northern Capitals finally had a chance to shake off the cobwebs and bring their game faces to the rink over the weekend.
All went according to plan in their first game against the Vancouver Island Seals Friday night, a 4-1 Capitals' victory, and they found a way to win a tight-checking battle with the Seals 2-0 Sunday morning at CN Centre. But in between those two games, the Seals stole one away from the second-place team in the B.C. Hockey Female Midget AAA League.
Riding a 30-save shutout performance by goalie Jaydin Spooner, the Seals stopped the Capitals 3-0 Saturday night at Kin 1, where the Capitals raised a banner just before the game to commemorate their Mac's Midget Tournament win in January.
"We hadn't played in three-and-a-half weeks and there was a bit of rust out there but it's good to get a couple of wins and move forward before playoffs begin March 4," said Capitals head coach Mario Desjardins.
"I've noticed this year in the league it's pretty much all low-scoring games and the goaltending is good right across the board and sometimes that's all you need to get you a long way."
The Seals play a physical game and while bodychecking is not allowed, that did not mean the weekend series was a no-hitter. Not with the likes of Seals defenceman Maryna MacDonald making her presence felt. Caps forward Katie Young learned that the hard way Sunday morning when she tried to accept a pass on the fly and got a little too close to where MacDonald was standing in the slot. The five-foot-seven, 150-pound MacDonald barely flinched while the five-foot-four, 120-pound Young crumpled to the ice.
After scoring four on Friday, goals were hard to come by for the Capitals in the next two games. A big part of the reason was the play of Seals goalies Spooner and Hailey Martens.
"Both of their goalies are incredible, they blanked us (Saturday) night and (Sunday) we just decided to get some nice shots away and put those rebounds in," said Capitals defenceman Grace Barlow, 17, who will enter UNBC's biomedical program next year on a full-ride academic scholarship.
Barlow set an example for the other Caps defencemen and kept a tight rein on traffic she allowed in their own zone. Although her team allowed 24 shots while pounding 32 the other way, only rarely did the Seals have a chance to set up in the offensive zone on Sunday. When they did get through, goalie Kelsey Roberts was equal to the task.
"She's always been a rock on our team," said Barlow. "She definitely starts as our foundation and we just build from her.
"We had lots of rust this weekend but that rest gave us a lot of time to reconnect with each other and practice and make sure we have everything down pat and we know what we're doing going into playoffs. Playoff hockey is so much different than the regular season and it's so much fun, especially for our third-years. This is going to be our last time and it's going to be great."
Barlow played as a forward last season and that experience boosted her offensive abilities to the point where she's not afraid to lead rushes into enemy territory and pick apart the vulnerabilities of her opponents while deep in the zone.
"Just before Christmas she started to turn her game around, getting confident with the puck and making some smart plays in her own defensive zone," said coach Desjardins. "After playing forward for a year, now that she's back on defence she sees the ice better and knows how important it is to make the first good pass and that's what she's doing out there."
Sage Desjardins continued to pump up her own her point production. She opened the scoring 2:10 into Sunday's game, the only goal allowed by Martens. Then in the final minute, with Martens parked on the bench, the Capitals captain sprung linemate Hunter Mosher into the clear for a shot into the empty Seals net.
"They're a good team and we couldn't create anything," said Seals head coach Dennis Bellevance.
"It was a bit of a letdown from winning (Saturday). We were close. We lost to them 2-1 at the Mac's and they're well-coached. It's a good team to play."
Desjardins also picked up a goal and two assists in Friday's win. Marissa Nichol, Caily Mellott and Victoria Johnston also scored for the Capitals. Taylor Sims netted the Seals' lone goal.
League playoffs start this weekend. The Capitals, who finished second with a 21-6-3 record, and the first-place Greater Vancouver Comets (23-4-3) have byes and will await the winners of first-round best-of-three series. The Seals (12-16-2) finished fourth and will take on the fifth-place Fraser Valley Rush, while the third-place Thompson-Okanagan Rockets play the sixth-place Kootenay Wild in the other opening-round series.
