Blazers cough one up to Ice

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the Kamloops Blazers reach into their bag of tricks and — PRESTO! — they show you something new.
Like Friday night, when they coughed up a hair ball bigger than a puddy tat and dropped a 6-5 shootout decision to the Kootenay Ice in a WHL game played before 4,610 mostly disbelieving fans at Interior Savings Centre.
The loser point left the Blazers (11-13-2-2) with 26 points and in sole possession of the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot. They are two points ahead of the Seattle Thunderbirds and one behind the Kelowna Rockets and Chilliwack Bruins. The Blazers are in Chilliwack tonight.
Last night, the Blazers took a 4-0 lead into the third period and looked as calm, cool and collected as George Clooney on a red carpet.
But the Ice (12-13-1-1), which had given up three power-play goals in falling behind 4-0 by 3:55 of the second period, wouldn’t go away.
“All I said was, ‘If we get one early, who knows?’ ” offered Ice head coach Mark Holick. “You get one and then all of a sudden you get another one.”
And another one and another one and another one . . .
And when left-winger Jesse Ismond, with three goals this season, scores in the shootout, you get the victory.
Guy Charron, who signed on Monday as the Blazers’ fifth head coach in 106 weeks, got a bird’s-eye view of what has ailed his club.
The Blazers are easily the WHL’s most-penalized team and their overworked penalty killers are ranked 21st of 22 teams.
“We have to avoid putting ourselves in that kind of predicament,” Charron said. “We scored on our power play, they scored on their power play. Unfortunately, they scored to give them momentum.”
The Ice finished up 4-for-8 with the man advantage, while the Blazers were 3-for-7.
Brendan Ranford, with two, C.J. Stretch and Ryan Funk, who was acquired Monday from the Vancouver Giants, scored to give the Blazers a fat 4-0 lead before the game was 24 minutes old.
However, Ice captain Dustin Sylvester, who is not related to the puddy tat, scored on a power play just 31 seconds into the third period and the visitors were rolling.
Steele Boomer, Brayden McNabb and Sylvester, again, scored three more PP goals and the Ice had the score tied at 11:42.
When right-winger Joe Antilla scored at 16:17, it looked as though the Ice was going to steal away with this one.
However, Kamloops captain Tyler Shattock took a nifty pass from centre Dalibor Bortnak and beat goaltender Todd Mathews with 11.8 seconds left on the clock to force overtime.
In the shootout, the Blazers got a goal from Shayne Wiebe, but the Ice got goals from Sylvester and Isfeld and took the two points.
“I thought we lost a lot of battles,” Charron said after his squad was outshot 47-28. “They basically just threw the puck at the net. We know the area we have to be better . . . defensively . . . but it comes down to winning the battles one-on-one.”
The new head coach also took time to let his players know that there isn’t a whole lot of time for this learning process to take hold.
“I don’t know about patience,” he said. “We’re at the stage of the season . . . you can’t go into the third period and give up four goals. Certainly, there were four power-play goals, but there has to be better discipline.
“These guys are going to have to catch on a little bit quicker.”
“We were really good for two periods,” Shattock said, “but obviously two periods isn’t enough in this league. Discipline was an issue again.”
Goaltender Kurtis Mucha, who was acquired from the Portland Winterhawks on Sunday, was fine in his Blazers debut. He stopped 42 shots but then, as Shattock said, “We kind of left him high and dry in the third period.”
Mathews, who had started the Ice’s previous 12 games, turned aside 19 of 21 shots after coming in for Nathan Lieuwen following the Blazers’ third goal.
Lieuwen, who has been trying to come back from a neck strain that was causing headaches, stopped four of seven shots in his first start since Oct. 23.
JUST NOTES: Referees Jeff Ingram and Graham Skilliter gave the Blazers 15 of 28 minors and two of four majors. The Ice took the lone misconduct. . . . The Ice lost D Ryan Molle to a suspected concussion midway through the first period when he was drilled by teammate Hayden Rintoul, who was trying to hit a darting JC Lipon. Molle will sit out the Ice’s game tonight in Kelowna against the Rockets. . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. Sylvester — wouldn’t let his guys quit; 2. Shattock — good night capped by big goal to force OT; 3. McNabb — leads the Ice from the back end. . . . Kamloops D Bronson Maschmeyer drew four assists, three of them on the PP.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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