BARRHEAD - There was some good news and bad news for the Barrhead Steelers on the Feb. 25-26 weekend.
The good news is that the squad will move on to face the Mayerthorpe Mustangs in the second round of the Northern Alberta Interlock (NAI) League U18 Tier2-3 playoffs after winning a total point home-and-home series versus Hinton.
The bad news is that the coaching staff was not as happy with the team's performance in the second game.
Barrhead won the first match on the road in Hinton on Feb. 25 by a score of 4-2, but lost their home game at the Barrhead Agrena on Feb. 26 by a 3-2 score.
"I told them (in the first-period intermission) that they either start skating now or they will have to skate at practice," head coach Steven Kaplan said after the second game.
And although he felt his players kicked things up a notch, Kaplan said he still may put the team through its paces during practice.
"It certainly wasn't the worst game we played, but against a quality team like Hinton, in the playoffs, you have to be better, and yesterday we were," he said. "If we played like we did yesterday, it would have a much different outcome."
In the first game, Barrhead hit the scoreboard early thanks to a goal by Kaden Rentz, assisted by Magnus Kaplan and Carter Greilech, about four and a half minutes into the first period. Hinton would tie the game near the end of the period.
In the second period, Barrhead would add to their lead, scoring two answered goals, the first by Tayson Hallock, assisted by Jett Parks and Tyler Erickson, just short of the halfway mark of the period. They then netted a second goal near the end of the period thanks to Greilach, assisted by Carsen Anderson and Rentz.
Magnus Kaplan would score the Steelers' final goal with just under seven minutes in the game.
William Bain stopped 22 of 24 shots for the win.
In the second game, Barrhead would once again get on the scoreboard ahead of Hinton with a goal by Rentz, assisted by Greilach, about seven minutes into the first period. They would add to their score thanks to a goal by Anderson, assisted by Rentz, about 10 minutes later.
Barrhead would end the period leading 2-0 despite being outshot 16-11. It would also be the last period that Barrhead would hit the scoreboard. In the second period, Hinton would score three unanswered goals to notch a 3-2 victory, although that would not be enough to overcome Barrhead's lead in the playoff series.
Bain would get his second straight start in net stopping, 26 out of 29 shots.
The next round of the playoffs begin on March 3 in Mayerthorpe, game time is 7:30 p.m. The second game will be the next night at the Barrhead Agrena with the puck drop at 8 p.m.
