Senior Night at Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills for Clarkston’s boys hockey team would have been perfect for senior captains Taylor Turner or Ryan Kenerson to provide heroics for the Wolves.
Instead it was freshman Adam Frank who tied the game for Clarkston 2-2 with 4:09 remaining in the game. The Wolves (7-11-4) could not get the go-ahead score and finished tied with Farmington United (11-9-2) on Saturday.
The game was not a clash of the titans, but it was a battle for fourth place in the Oakland Activities Association division I standings. The Wolves moved to 3-5-3 in the conference and the Flyers are now 4-5-1.
Garrett Knappe had 22 saves in net for Clarkston.
After the Wolves wasted golden opportunities with the man advantage, Frank scored when he put Jeff Thompson’s rebound past Flyers goalie Tim Martin.
The Flyers got up early when Jeff Smale’s slap-shot flew through a screen of Wolves at 11:26 of the first period. Farmington struck at the start of the second as Andrew Rauth took a cross-ice pass from John Murfey and beat Knappe, who had not gotten back into position.
‘He’s (Rauth) such a hard worker. It’s the same consistent effort out of him every game,? Flyers coach Ken Anderson said.
Kenerson scored a power-play goal at 9:00 of the second period, jamming in front of the net and repeatedly swiping at a Turner rebound. The play began as Aaron Podbielski made a diving stop to keep the play onside and fed Turner for the shot.
Despite the tie, Clarkston coach Bryan Krygier was disappointed with the way his team played.
‘We didn’t get into the game until the last three or four minutes,? Krygier said.
‘Luckily, we got a tie and a point.?
Although Kenerson scored with the man-advantage, the Wolves spoiled two third period chances on the power-play. Jason Barclae was sent to the box with 7:56 remaining and 10 seconds later, Jeremy Voelker took a high-sticking penalty, ruining Clarkston’s second power-play in three-and-a-half minutes.
‘We were too lax on the power-play. We didn’t pass the puck hard and we didn’t set it up. We were taking shots that were out of the red zone,? Krygier said.
Anderson said the Flyers have played very well despite several injuries on the team. The latest occurred early in the game when Flyers? captain Evan Chornoby left with a concussion. Anderson was unsure how the injury happened.
‘I’m very proud of my guys, we had a very short bench,? he said.
‘We had to make more adjustments and we had two lines basically the whole game.?
Clarkston travels to Farmington Wednesday for the second game with the Falcons, who they beat at DSC last month. Brother Rice visits DSC on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Clarkston hosts Bloomfield Unified from OAA II in the pre-regional playoffs at DSC on Feb. 27 at 7:30. The winner moves on to play the winner of Rochester Adams versus Orchard Lake St. Mary’s on March 1, also at DSC. Detroit Skating Club is located at 888 Denison Court in Bloomfield Hills.