Michael Buchinger knows he has to pick his spots these days.
With the Guelph Storm missing two defencemen due to injury and a third playing at the World Under-17 tournament, the team is down to five regular defencemen right now.
Buchinger logged a tonne of ice time Friday as the Storm used grind and grit to down the Flint Firebirds 3-2 at the Sleeman Centre.
The win snapped Guelph's mini two-game losing streak.
"I've talked to the coaching staff a bit about it. It's kind of knowing where I fit in the game, making plays early, taking things slow and not putting myself in situations where I have to take extra hits," said Buchinger.
"It's a learning curve and I'm still kind of learning," the St. Louis Blues pick said.
"It's communication, understanding what the team needs in a specific scenario ... I'm a defenceman first and I keep the game in front of me. That can help pace myself throughout the game."
Despite being shorthanded on the blueline, Buchinger said the team can't get away from its game plan. But not forcing things, understanding scenarios and the clock are key.
Cam Allen (shoulder) and Quinn Beauchesne (broken wrist) are out until the new year and Rylan Singh is still away at the under-17 tournament.
Winger Gavin Grundner took a few shifts on defence Friday, but that didn't last long.
Guelph trailed 1-0 after the first period and it was tied 2-2 after two, with Max Namestnikov and Jake Karabela accounting for the Storm goals. Matthew Wang and NolanDamn scored for Flint.
Charlie Paquette was Johnny On The Spot for the game winner at 7:29 of the third period.
With Guelph on the power play, Vilmer Alriksson made a nice move to cut toward the net and the losse puck came to Paquette at the side of the net, who one-timed it past Flint goaltender Nathan Day.
It was a two-point night for Paquette and Alriksson. Brayden Gillespie was his usual steady self in the Storm net, making 25 saves.
A couple of key plays that didn't show up on the scoresheet were a first period fight between Guelph's Hunter McKenzie and Wang, which put some life into the rink, and Ryan McGuire drawing a pair of double minors on Flint players, including one when he refused to be goaded into a fight.
"We just stuck to our system tonight and it kind of paid off," said Paquette, who seems to feed off tight-checking games with lots of physicality like Friday night's contest.
"I like these games, I find it gets me in the game a little more rather than a more passive game," said Paquette, who now has seven goals on the season.
"I like when I can finish my checks and people finish them on me. It gets me in the game."
Guelph plays in London Saturday night then hosts London in a rare Wednesday night contest starting at 6:30.
