The Dragons took their show on the road to area arenas to host two home games.
On Wednesday, January 13 they were in Hanna to take on the Olds Grizzly, and on Saturday, January 16, they took on the Calgary Royals in Three Hills. In both matches the team came out strong, but fell short down the stretch.
“It is kind of that hockey cliche about playing 60 minutes. We divide our game into three segments. We want to get a great start and set the tone. In the second period, we want to assert ourselves as much as possible and build our lead, and in the third period we really are increasing our tenacity and put the nails in the coffin so to speak,” said coach Dan Price. “I think in the third periods of our games, we are still developing our killer instinct and our guys know that. It is a skill they are developing just like everything else.”
Last Wednesday, the Dragons found themselves down two goals in the first period versus Olds. Less than two minutes into the second period; Scott Kennedy put the Dragons on the score board, and shortly thereafter Evan Warner tied it on the powerplay.
The Dragons were down one going into the third period when the Grizzlys out shot the Dragons 17 to five and added four goals to the lead.
On Saturday, the Dragons dueled it out with the Calgary Royals as the two teams continue to jockey for position in the second half of the season. At the Three Hills Arena, the Dragons hopped out to a two goal lead thanks to one from Sam Lawson in the first period and a powerplay goal in the second from Mike Marianchuk. The Royals finally made it onto the score board a minute into the second period, but Marcus Toye found the net unassisted six minutes later. The Royals were able to even it up in the third period to force overtime. Four minutes into the first extra period, the Royals put it away.
He says a key to success is to play with consistency.
“I think our guys have done a great job to learn how to start games quickly with physicality and speed, we’ve learned how to get leads and play well in the second period. We have learned how to play well at home and on the road, we are very versatile that way. Now it is just a matter of ingraining that killer instinct. Whether it is a tie game, or we have a lead, or we are down one or two goals, we are going to be the best team in the third period every time. If we can do that consistently, then I really like our chances going forward.”
The Dragons were in Calgary to play the Royals on Monday night. Currently, the two teams are battling for the last play off spot in the southern division. The Royals took Monday night’s game with a score of 9-4.
