Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – It took the MacEwan Griffins 13 shots before they finally solved Briercrest goaltender Dan Dekoning, but once they did, it was like discovering the right code in an Indiana Jones movie.
The floodgates just opened up.
Pucks just started pouring into the Clippers' net at a healthy clip as the Griffins roared to a 7-1 victory in their penultimate Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference regular season game on Friday night at the Downtown Community Arena.
"I think the difference that we did today that we didn't do before is we kept peppering him with shots and getting traffic in front of him," said MacEwan forward Nolan Yaremchuk, referencing a 2-1 defeat to the Clippers back in November when Dekoning made 52 saves.
"It ended up working out. We ended up getting to him a little bit and getting a couple of goals."
That's not to say Dekoning – a former junior teammate of Connor McDavid's on the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters – wasn't brilliant at times. He was the sole reason the Griffins didn't score in double digits on a night they had multiple five-alarm chances and never let the Clippers up off the mat.
"He's a very good goalie," said Griffins interim head coach Michael Ringrose. "We watched that movie once when we went down there and put 50-plus shots on net and he was able to stop all but one and get the win for them. We had a game plan to get to the net and make sure we were trying to make his life difficult, make it hard for him to see pucks, track down second opportunities.
"That was deliberate by us. I thought we did a good job. We're going to need the same effort tomorrow."
The lopsided score is also no doubt due to the variance in motivation between the teams. While the Clippers were already eliminated from the playoffs before the weekend and are just playing for pride, the Griffins remain embroiled in the tightest of battles for the No. 2 playoff seed, which comes with a playoff bye.
"We're in a spot right now where if we lose a game we could end up in third or fourth place," said Yaremchuk, who was one of three Griffins with multi-point nights, tallying a goal and an assist. "So, we need to win every game to end up in second place so we can get the bye. That's what's generating our motor in the back of our heads."
With the victory, their sixth in a row, the Griffins improved to 19-7-1-0 and remain one point up on Red Deer College (18-7-2-0) and SAIT (17-6-3-1) for second. Both of those teams also won on Friday (RDC took out NAIT 4-1 and SAIT hammered Portage 11-1).
That means, the race for second will come down to the final day of the ACAC regular season. The Griffins need to at least get a point in Saturday's rematch against Briercrest (1 p.m., Downtown Community Arena) to clinch second without help. Both RDC and SAIT play the same opponents as they did on Friday.
If the Griffins somehow end up tied in points with either of those squads, they will win the tiebreaker in both cases. SAIT won the season series but can't catch MacEwan in wins (the first ACAC tiebreaker) and RDC, who, at best could only match the Griffins in wins should they tie, would lose the second tiebreaker (season series went to MacEwan).
Either way, the Griffins will need another great effort if they hope to sweep the Clippers. Friday night was certainly their template.
After Dekoning robbed Ryan Baskerville in tight 6:20 into the first period and was looking strong on several other stops, Cameron Gotaas finally solved him at 13:31 on the powerplay, snapping a shot blocker side – the first of three Griffins goals scored off open rushes down the right wing.
MacEwan's next shot on him also went in less than two minutes later when Jacob Schofield scored from almost the same spot.
Briercrest's Josh Anderson thought he'd cut MacEwan's lead in half with 20 seconds left in the first period, but Marc-Olivier Daigle made a scintillating stop on his point-blank shot. As often happens in hockey, the play went the other way and Baskerville batted a rebound over Dekoning's pad for a 3-0 lead with six seconds left in the opening frame.
The Clippers goalie robbed both Nakehko Lamothe and Tyler Mrkonjic early in the second, but the Griffins just kept coming in waves. Mrkonjic spotted Yaremchuk coming off the bench at 9:47 and fed him a perfect pass for a one-timer.
"I was kind of further back than him and he put it in such a perfect spot that I didn't have to move or do anything," said Yaremchuk. "I just shot and it went in. It was a good pass."
Briercrest finally got on the board at 15:09 when Joshua Mitton skated in on a 3-on-1 keeper, ripping one under the bar.
MacEwan added three more goals in the third – Ryan Benn on a beautiful short-handed dangle off a pass from Lamothe, Lamothe from that elusive right-wing spot, ringing it off the iron and in, and Brett Njaa, who cut in front and put a backhander past Dekoning.
"We had lots of guys that were going tonight," said Ringrose. "Those two names (Benn and Lamothe) certainly pushed and skated and played the right way."
Dekoning finished with 42 saves for Briercrest to improve his league-leading total to 939 on the season. Daigle stopped 23 for the Griffins and moved into top spot in the ACAC in goals against average (2.22).
"We talked about having a mature approach and just sticking to the process," said Ringrose. "We have been guilty this year of taking our foot off the gas a little bit. Tonight, we didn't. We played right through the end and I was happy with that."
