The Clarkston hockey team has developed a too familiar scenario of starting slow and dominating late this season. This past week the practice cost the Wolves some games.
The Wolves tied Cranbrook 3-3 on Feb. 11 and lost to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 4-2 on Valentine’s Day. Both these teams are expected to compete for the District 3 state title next month.
It was only fitting that the Cranbrook game finished in a tie, as each team dominated for half the game.
CHS netminder Michael Brach kept the Wolves in the game early, as he turned away 22 of 23 shots in the first two periods.
Down 1-0, Clarkston spent the first half of the second period killing penalties. Then Steven Morin turned things around by scoring on the first Clarkston shot on goal of the period. Kyle Buzzo and Mike Fogg assisted.
The Wolves came out strong in the third period, with Trevor Johns scoring early on a pass from Buzzo to go up 2-1. But the lead was short lived, as a couple of Clarkston turnovers in their defensive zone led to two quick Cranbrook goals.
It appeared that Fogg had tied the game midway through the period, but the goal was disallowed.
‘The puck hit the post in the back of the net and went into the goalie’s pad. The referee never saw it,? Fogg said.
Cranbrook started to tire in the third, getting beat on the boards and taking unnecessary penalties. The Wolves capitalized as Morin scored from Buzzo and Adam Peters, as all three crashed the net. It was Buzzo’s third point of the night.
‘We played well, but still came out slow. We haven’t put a full game together since we played Port Huron Northern. If we do, we should see some nice games out of us,? Clarkston coach Bryan Krygier said.
On Saturday, Clarkston visited Orchard Lake St. Mary’s new rink, located on their school campus, and played before a standing room only crowd.
It took the Wolves a period and a half to figure out the Eaglets offensive system, as three of their first four goals were scored with a man alone in front of the net. CHS goalie, Aaron Catanese, had no chance as he was faced with point blank shots.
The first Orchard Lake goal came early in the game, as a dump in rebounded to an open Arthur Kret. The Eaglets went up 2-0, as they scored short-handed after a Clarkston turnover in the defensive zone.
Buzzo got the Wolves on the board late in the first as he scored on a cross-ice feed from Morin. Peters also assisted.
But St. Mary’s went up 4-1 in the second period as they scored two quick goals from the slot on passes from behind the net. Morin narrowed the game at 4-2 later in the second period on a shot from the left circle. Chris Degen and Mike Fogg assisted.
The Wolves came alive in the third period. They dominated puck possession and had several excellent scoring chances, but could not break netminder Mitch Rybicki.
‘They beat us physically and capitalized on our mistakes,? Krieger said. ‘We picked up our game in the third period, but it was too late to come back.?
The Wolves play their last two league games of the season on Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at Farmington, who have won 10 straight, and meet West Bloomfield on Feb. 20 at 5 p.m. at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.