Quote:
Special teams in spotlight
Greg Harder, Leader-Post
Published: Friday, February 29, 2008
The Regina Pats are hoping to flip the switch on another power outage at the Brandt Centre.
This time, not their own.
The Pats' struggling special teams will again be under the spotlight for tonight's game against the Chilliwack Bruins. In particular, Regina is focused on shutting down one of the league's most dangerous power plays, led by the dynamic duo of Mark Santorelli and Oscar Moller up front and high-scoring blueliner Nick Holden on the back end.
"Looking at Chilliwack, that's their biggest strength, their power play," offered Pats head coach Curtis Hunt. "The key is to understand what they try to do and try to minimize their most effective options."
Regina's penalty killing unit had been a huge sore spot up until it pitched a shutout during Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Kamloops Blazers. Before holding Kamloops to an 0-for-3 effort, the Pats had allowed 10 goals on 26 chances over four games (39-per-cent efficiency). Overall, Regina sits 14th in the league on the penalty kill (81.1 per cent), one spot behind Chilliwack (81.2 per cent).
That's an area the Bruins will look to exploit with their power-play unit, which has slipped to seventh in the WHL (20.1 per cent) but is always a threat to break out.
"It's like anything, you have to be aware it's a strength, so it starts with discipline," said Hunt. "Is it scary? I look at it more as a great challenge at a great time. It's an opportunity for us to build and improve on (what they did against Kamloops). I think the best thing about that was how we only (allowed) three, which is a sign of how we played because I thought we played hard and we played smart."
Except on the power play, where the Pats were shut down on their first 11 chances before breaking loose for two late goals. Some of those struggles were attributed to the absence of captain Logan Pyett, who's slated to return tonight after serving a one-game suspension.
Without Pyett, Hunt was forced to use forwards Jordan Eberle or Tim Kraus on the point alongside regular blueliner Victor Bartley. The experiment failed when Kamloops scored a short-handed goal.
"(Pyett's) addition is obviously a key for our power play," said Hunt. "We had some forwards back there to try to improve, which ended up exploding on us. That being said, we certainly know Tim Kraus can step back there and maybe do a job for us if he has to."
Given the choice, Hunt would prefer to return to basics, meaning his defencemen need to get pucks through from the point. That's what happened when the Pats finally broke their goose egg late in Wednesday's game against Kamloops.
"I hate to oversimplify it but that's what it is: Make a good decision, make a pass and put it on net with traffic," said Hunt, whose team had been No. 1 in the league with the man advantage but fell to fifth (20.3 per cent) after going 7-for-51 in the past eight games. "We've got a pretty good power play, even though we've struggled a little bit. Some of it is squeezing the stick, as was evident with our five-on-five play, because we've struggled to score some goals. We spent some time on (the power play during Thursday's practice) just making sure the guys understand it needs to be a very simple concept."
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SCOUTING REPORT
CHILLIWACK (26-30-4-4)
at REGINA (38-21-4-2)
Today, 7 p.m., Brandt Centre
Radio: 620 CKRM
Key injuries: REGINA -- LW Josh Elder (knee, indefinite); CHILLIWACK -- RW Matt Meropoulis (hand, day-to-day).
Overview: The Bruins, who joined the WHL last season, are making their first visit to the Brandt Centre. Regina's 4-3 shootout win last season in Chilliwack was the only previous meeting between the teams . . . The Bruins have lost four straight games to open an East Division road swing (4-3 OT in Saskatoon, 5-3 in Prince Albert, 4-2 in Moose Jaw and 6-3 in Brandon). Tonight's game will be their fifth in eight days . . . The key to Chilliwack's success is the dynamic duo of LW Mark Santorelli (24-67--91, 64 GP) and RW Oscar Moller (36-38--74, 56 GP). Santorelli is second in the WHL points race while Moller sits third in goals. They're joined by overage LW Brandon Campos (24-40--64, 61 GP) . . . Captain Nick Holden quarterbacks the league's seventh-ranked power play (20.1%). The 20-year-old leads all WHL D-men in goals (19) and sits third in points (52) after 63 games . . . Pats captain Logan Pyett is right behind him with 18 goals and 49 points in 55 games. Pyett is slated to return from a one-game suspension . . . Tonight's game is a homecoming for Regina-born forward Brayden Metz (4-5--9, 44 GP), a former Pats' top prospect who was selected in the second round (21st overall) of the 2005 bantam draft. Metz, 17, was traded to Chilliwack last season for Myles Stoesz, a 20-year-old enforcer who's now playing pro in the ECHL.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008
