The last time the Elmira Sugar Kings hosted the Brantford Golden Eagles, the visiting team clawed their way back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the defending champs in a shootout. In Sunday’s rematch, the Sugar Kings got their revenge, once again jumping out to a 2-0 lead but held on for a decisive 4-1 victory.
In a heated affair that saw the Eagles draw 60 minutes in penalties, including four 10-minute misconducts, the Sugar Kings showed tremendous discipline, riding goalie Nick Horrigan, forward Andrew Smith, and the frustrations of their opponents to victory.
Smith put Elmira up 3-0 on his own, finishing a hat trick half way through the second period that seemed to be the tipping point for Brantford, as tensions and chippiness escalated from there.
The Golden Eagles seemed to lose all composure in the third period, drawing several misconduct penalties for inciting opponents after the whistle. They even lost back-up goaltender Brett Gilmour in the game’s final minutes after he drew a game misconduct for interference from the bench.
Elmira drew only six penalties to Brantford’s 15, garnering praise from head coach Dean DeSilva for their discipline.
“Earlier in the season we were a very undisciplined team and other teams were able to get some of our players rattled,” he said. “We want our players to play team tough and be five strong on the ice at all times, looking out for each other. However, games aren’t won with your mouth, they’re won with a strong work ethic, discipline and determination. I’m very pleased with how our players have been disciplined in the past 10 games or so.  They recognized that teams get undisciplined when they are frustrated by the work ethic and determination of their opponents.”
Despite managing only one goal on 8 power play opportunities, the special teams also received a strong endorsement from their coach, who also gave credit to Brantford’s penalty kill and goaltender Bryce O’Hagan.
“The goalie needs to be your best penalty killer and I thought O’Hagan was an excellent penalty killer for them,” DeSilva said. “We had good puck movement and generated opportunities. That’s what we want. It is something that we work on consistently and I’m confident it will continue to improve. I was (also) very pleased with our penalty killers. Nick Horrigan made the saves when he needed to but our defence also did an excellent job of allowing him to see the puck.”
After Elmira’s last game against Brantford, despite the team’s hot start, DeSilva said he was still seeing sloppy play and incohesiveness from his team. Now, he speaks with pride as he sees them coming together and growing as a unit.
“These players are pushed hard and they are responding,” he said. “I like where our game is right now because I see chemistry and consistency developing more and more each day.  They know the pressure they are under as defending champions and know that each game they have to be ready. We still have things to work on and improve but the players are responding. Each of these players has made a sacrifice for this team and as coaches we respect the manner in which they’ve put the work boots on and come to work every day.”
Horrigan stopped 33 of 34 shots, and forward Lukas Baleshta added three assists in the victory.
Elmira’s next game is on Friday night at Owen Sound.