Brody Brewster scored early and often to lead the Senior Canucks to a 7-5 road win over the Grimshaw Huskies on Tuesday night.
Brewster’s first of four goals came in the first period to give the Canucks a 3-0 lead entering the first intermission; but it was Jeff Taylor who really got the ball rolling for Dawson Creek scoring less than a minute into the opening frame to give the short-benched Canucks the jump they needed.
“We came out in the first looking really strong,” said player and coach Adam Loncan by phone on Wednesday, who noted that the Senior’s arrived just ten minutes before puck drop and dressed 12 players including two junior call-ups, Connor Rose and Riley Muise.
Rose scored the Canucks second goal on the powerplay to give the Canucks a 2-0 lead.
”We just came out of the gates flying. It was a good response from us and the good thing for us was we had a good start finally,” noted Loncan.
Quick starts have been a rarity this season for the Canucks, who it seems have been on the other end of early scoring sprees, often putting Dawson Creek behind the proverbial eight-ball.
Grimshaw, however, mounted its comeback in the second scoring three goals in the period and holding the Canucks to one.
Huskies’ Corson Fairless scored twice, getting Grimshaw on the board with a goal at 6:27 and notched his second at 14:14. Sheldon Szmata added another for the Huskies, while Ryan Walker buried his eighth of the season for the Canucks.
Trailing 4-3 to start the third, Grimshaw tied things up with a marker from Scott McDonald. But it was a short-lived draw as Brewster began torching the Huskies in the third.
The forward notched a hat-trick with back-to-back goals midway through the frame to put the Canucks up 6-4. Fairless scored again to give him a hat-trick of his own, but Brewster’s empty-netter with eight seconds left sealed the Canucks’ win and gave Dawson Creek their ninth win of the season.
“The guys [forwards] kept it simple up front, played well in the offensive zone and worked their [Huskies] defence. Whoever Brody was out there with, they worked hard, and he buried every chance he got,” said Loncan about the Canucks’ frontline.
It was the first meeting this year between the Canucks and cross-division opponent Grimshaw. The two were scheduled to meet on Dec. 1 but icy road conditions led to the game being rescheduled to this Tuesday.
“You have to expect the best out of them and be prepared for anything,” said Loncan about facing-off against an unknown opponent this late in the season. “You can’t worry about the other team and just focus on your own game.”
The Canucks return to home ice on Saturday versus the Fort St. John Flyers and have just four games left before the North Peace Hockey League postseason gets underway.
“These next four are obviously big games. We want to stay on a roll and keep winning and be prepared for playoffs – no matter who we face,” said Loncan.
“We have to be prepared for anyone or else it’s going to be a short run.”
Dawson Creek will visit Hythe and Falher before hosting Grande Prairie for their season finale on Feb. 2.
