If Dalhousie expects to contend for a playoff spot at this stage of the season, they must steal points from the league’s best teams. The Tigers did just that on home ice Jan. 18 against Acadia.
Dal’s thievery was plotted commendably as the suddenly hot Tigers snatched a point from the No. 6 ranked club in the country, dropping a 3 – 2 overtime decision to the 13-6-1 Axemen.
The Tigers’ sudden turnaround has come as a surprise. The same team that was mired in a disastrous 11-game losing skid in the first half of the season has now won three of their last five since the holidays. The stolen point opposite Acadia puts the Tigers within striking distance of the final playoff berth in the AUS. They are just three points behind St. FX.
The reversal of Dal’s season has not gone unnoticed by the conference’s top scorer, Acadia forward Andrew Clark.
“We try not to underestimate anybody in this league. It’s real tight,” he said. “They did us a favour last weekend by beating Moncton, and, you know, that was great for us. We knew we couldn’t take them lightly.”
It was Clark who sealed the deal for Acadia four minutes into the extra frame. A deflection off Jonathan Laberge’s skate landed squarely to Clark in front of the net, which he would rifle to the back of the net for the game winner. Shortly before the goal, the Tigers struggled to get the puck out of their territory.
“I think we did play a good game,” commented Tigers captain David MacDonald. “They deserved to win, but we made some bad mistakes which cost us.”
The home side was helped out by an injury-ravaged Axemen roster as a number of Acadia’s regulars, including high scorers Alex Beaton, Nicholas Chouinard and Dustin Ekelman, are currently sidelined. The Tigers are also dealing with some injury issues themselves; most notably No. 1 netminder Bobby Nadeau did not dress for the second straight game. The third-year re-aggravated a groin injury Jan. 13 against St. Thomas that has kept him out of the lineup this season for all but eight games.
Dal assistant coach Chris Donnelly said managing injuries is just a reality of the game.
“He’s a first-year guy which has climatized himself well to this league,” he said. “Wendell is much more prepared to get in the game this half [of the season] than he was in the first half.”
Vye kept his teammates in the match during a sluggish opening 10 minutes until the Tigers got their legs back. The score was knotted at zero after the first period.
After MacDonald got his Tigers back into it 9:22 into the second period, Acadia’s Liam Heels responded 59 seconds later to take a 2 – 1 edge, capitalizing on a pinching defender to silence the crowd with a breakaway marker. Midway through the third, MacDonald’s second goal of the game set the stage for overtime. His power play bullet from the point made the score 2 – 2.
To keep a playoff spot within reach, the Tigers have set their sights on sixth-place St. FX. The X-Men has lost three of their last four, but did grab an overtime win against UNB, the best team in the country.
“We know we can make it,” said Vye, speaking of the playoffs. “It’s a very tight league and we’re just taking it game by game. Sure, we’re three back now, but we win one game, they lose one game, and then we’re one point back. We’ll just take it game by game and hopefully we’re going to be there at the end.”
Dal’s playoff hunt continues against fourth-place Saint Mary’s with a home-and-home series this weekend. The teams battle at Memorial Arena Jan. 20 and the Halifax Forum Jan. 21. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
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