ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland and Labrador – The St. John’s IceCaps have not enjoyed a great deal of home-ice advantage this season, as was evident in Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs at Mile One Centre.
Through 10 home dates so far in the 2012-13 AHL campaign, the IceCaps have still not recorded back-to-back victories in St. John’s. Instead, the club has followed a consistent approach to mediocrity whenever opposing teams roll into Mile One for a two-game set: win the first game, then promptly drop the second one.
This scenario has played out five times so far this season, much to the frustration of the team’s players and coaching staff. Making the situation even tougher to swallow is the discrepancy in the way the club plays in the back-to-back matchups.
Typically, St. John’s looks like a well-oiled machine in the first of the two-game set, using the right combination of speed, grit and discipline to earn a victory. However, far too often the club looks lethargic, uninterested and uninspired in the second game of series.
“Obviously if we knew what was happening in these back-to-back games, we’d do something about it and win those games,” said IceCaps winger Carl Klingberg. “We will still try to find a way to win these games … We don’t want to be frustrated because when we are, it’s not going to work out for us. But at the same time we are very aware that we need to win these back-to-back games. We just have to find a way to keep a consistent 60 minutes in both games. That’s a challenge for us.”
The IceCaps got off to a good start in Wednesday’s game versus the Bulldogs and held a 1-0 lead until the mid-point of the second period. But once Hamilton got on the scoreboard the IceCaps level of compete dropped dramatically, as the club struggled to move the puck out of its zone and failed to create any offensive opportunities.
The lackluster play led to another Bulldogs goal before the second period ended.
“I liked our start. I liked our first period, I thought we came out with really good intensity,” said McCambridge. “But as soon they got their first goal, our game really dropped off. We weren’t skating, weren’t moving the puck, weren’t getting in on the fore-check. The rest of the second period we were just chasing the game.”
The Bulldogs caught a break on the game-winning goal by Steve Quailer when the puck took a funny bounce off the boards behind the net and landed right on the stick of the Hamilton forward. IceCaps goalie Mark Dekanich had already turned to his right, anticipating the puck would wrap around the boards and into the corner. Instead, Quailer had an empty net in which to slide the puck.
“We’re going to be on the other side of that during the season and have been already. It’s part of the game. Whichever way it kicks off the glass, you have to be ready for it. We weren’t, and it was in the back of the net,” McCambridge said.
The first goal of Wednesday’s game came at 19:50 of the first period when Klingberg scored to put St. John’s up 1-0. The Bulldogs tied the game at 12:39 of the second frame when Mike Blunden tapped home a pass from Brendan Gallagher on a two-on-one.
Quailer’s goal came with just 24 seconds remaining in the second period, giving his team a 2-1 lead that would serve as the final score.
Cedric Desjardins made 29 saves to earn the win in the Bulldogs’ net. Dekanich stopped 23 shots in taking the loss for St. John’s.
The game’s three stars were Desjardins, Klingberg and Dekanich, respectively.
Darcy.MacRae@prohockeynews.com Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews
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