The turkey is not what is giving Clarkston varsity hockey Coach Bryan Krygier heartburn today, rather the Wolves 5-3 loss to Brighton on Nov. 26 is causing the burning in his throat.
Had Clarkston won, they would have advanced to the finals of the Cranbrook Thanksgiving Tournament to face the tourney hosts.
‘This will be the last game we’ll be outworked,? said Krygier. ‘They beat us to the puck… we did not execute anything.?
The Wolves sniffed at victory early in the third period, but were quickly rebuffed by the Bulldogs.
Clarkston was seconds into a power play when a screaming one-timer from the point by junior defenseman Matt Prasil from senior forward Mike Fogg clanged in off the post, tying the game 3-3 with 10:24 remaining in the third.
Just seconds later though, Brighton broke through the Wolves defense and slipped the puck through a crack in senior goalie Michael Brach’s five hole. With 4:22 remaining in the game, the Bulldogs added an insurance goal.
‘We can play a lot better than that,? said Krygier.
The Wolves committed eight penalties in the game, two of which led to goals for the Bulldog power play.
Early in the game, Clarkston got some stellar play from Brach, as he stopped several hard slap shots and foiled a breakaway chance.
Brach’s netminding allowed Clarkston to take a 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal by senior defenseman Alex Handley.
Holding the lead though was the problem, as Brighton answered back with 3:56 remaining in the first period.
When Fogg put the Wolves up 2-1 early in the second period Brighton was again able to tie the game up on a power play.
Unfortunately, Brighton was done playing catchup with Clarkston and got a go-ahead goal, once again on the power play, with 4:55 remaining in the second.
In part, the Wolves caught some bad breaks early as two of Brighton’s first three goals deflected off Clarkston players in front of the net.
The two teams both shot the puck 25 times.
The Wolves play next on Dec. 2 against Waterford Mott on their home ice at the Detroit Skating Club. Next up after Mott will be Royal Oak on Dec. 4 also at home.