OWEN SOUND - It’s getting to be groundhog day for the Guelph Storm.
After opening Wednesday night’s game against the red hot Owen Sound Attack with a pretty decent 15 minutes, which saw them tied 2-2, everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
Owen Sound scored twice in the final three minutes of the first period and never looked back.
A screen on your own goalie, a couple of brutal turnovers, even a cross-ice Attack pass deflected into their own goal: it seemed every mistake the Storm made ended up behind goaltender Liam Herbst.
It ended with an 8-2 victory for the Attack, their club-record 11th straight win.
It was Guelph’s sixth loss in a row.
“I liked the way we came out, killing off a four minute penalty (to Givani Smith) and killing another one off right after. I liked our first period,” Storm coach Jarrod Skalde said.
“But that’s a fast team over there and they had the puck most of the last 40 minutes and controlled the pace of play. They’re big, they’re strong and they’re mature,” the Storm coach said.
“If we got it past the red line the last 40 minutes, that was almost an accomplishment.”
The Storm didn’t get away with any mistakes. Every time they made one in their own zone it seemed to result in an Owen Sound goal.
The Attack led 4-2 after the first period and 5-2 after two.
Nick Deakin-Poot and Isaac Ratcliffe scored the Guelph goals. Herbst went the distance in net, making 34 saves.
Jonah Gadjovic led the Attack with a hat trick and Michael McNiven made 21 saves.
Newcomer Nolan Makkanen suited up for the Storm after just one practice and didn’t do too badly, recording an assist on his first OHL shift and finishing the game a plus-1.
That was much better than some of his more experienced teammates, including Dmitri Samorukov, who was on the ice for five of Owen Sound’s six even-strength tallies.
The two teams play again Friday in Guelph.