The plan was to play the style of game that will lead to playoff success. The Cariboo Cougars didn't have the necessary jump on Saturday night but they found it on Sunday.
In a weekend doubleheader in the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League, the Cougars lost 3-2 to the South Island Thunderbirds in the opener but bounced back for a 6-3 win in the rematch.
The Cats were coming off a bye weekend, and the break in the schedule hurt them in the setback to the Thunderbirds.
"We didn't play assertive hockey," said Cariboo head coach Trevor Sprague, whose club was skating on Kin 1 ice. "We were just poking pucks and playing soft. We didn't really have that demanding game like we usually do."
The Cougars had a 2-1 lead after two periods but gave up two goals in the third. Cariboo marksmen were Seb Lloyd and Levon Johnson, while South Island shooters who found the target were Connor Krupa, Jack Palmer and Kyle Richter.
The win was a big one for the T-birds because it clinched them a playoff spot. The top six teams will qualify for the post-season.
On Sunday, the Cougars gave up a first-shift goal to Nathan Chen-Mack but then took over. Before the opening period was done, Chase Witala, Tyson Witala, Lloyd and Luke Gordon all connected for goals. South Island's Richter had the only marker of the middle frame and brought the score to 4-2. But, in the third period, Eli Jarvis and Chase Witala put the game out of the T-birds' reach. South Island's Dayne Ellison completed the scoring.
Sprague was much happier with his team's Sunday effort.
"We played better in our own end, we made better decisions on the wall, we had a few stretch passes that worked very well," he said. "Our power play stunk the whole weekend -- it didn't create anything at all so we're going to have to go back to work on that -- but our PK was outstanding."
Unfortunately for the Cats, they lost their second-leading scorer, Johnson, to a freak knee injury in the first period. Johnson collided with teammate Justin Duncan when Duncan was coming back to the bench after getting hit from behind by a South Island player. When Johnson and Duncan made contact, Johnson twisted his knee.
"Last time this [knee injury] happened, he was out for a week," Sprague said. "We're going to see how he can bounce back."
Before Johnson went down, the Cougars were already missing defencemen Jared Crossan (knee) and Josh Connolly (Canada Winter Games) and forwards Harjas Grewal (concussion) and Brett Harris (Canada Winter Games). Sprague was forced to use just five defencemen all weekend.
"It was pretty difficult," said 15-year-old blueliner Raymond Grewal. "There was a lot of ice out there but with all the practicing we're pretty used to it. We're in good condition. We kept it simple near the end when we were getting tired."
The Cougars moved to 26-11-1 on the season and the T-birds now sit at 17-15-8. By losing on Saturday, the Cats missed a chance to move from third place to second place in the standings. They are one point behind the Valley West Hawks, who took only one of a possible four points from the 10th-place Kootenay Ice on the weekend.
The top two teams will receive first-round byes in playoffs, while the third- and fourth-place clubs will host best-of-three quarterfinal series.
The Cougars will wrap up their regular season with Saturday and Sunday road games against the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs (16-15-7).
