Despite outshooting both the Kamloops Storm and the Chase Heat on home ice, the 100 Mile House Wranglers lost 3-2 against both teams last week.
The Wranglers faced off against the Storm on Thursday, Dec. 5 and the Heat on Sunday, Dec. 8 in games which head coach Levi Stuart said were frustrating for the team. In both games, Stuart said his team put in solid performances but unfortunately neither materialized into wins against their division rivals.
"They were both fairly similar games, in all honesty. We had close to 50 shots in both games, almost outshot the teams two to one," Stuart said. "From our perspective, we feel like we were the better team for the vast majority of both games.
"These are the toughest games for me as a coach to evaluate because when we are playing as well as we are and just not getting the results there's not a ton of things for us as a staff to break down on video or work on in practice. We're doing all the things we're preaching, we're just not necessarily getting the 'puck luck' we had in the past."
Stuart noted that typically when you shoot close to 50 pucks at a net you don't usually score only two goals. He noted that throughout both games his team had many quality chances to score but were unable to seal the deal. While both the Heat and Storm's goalies had great games, Stuart said his team isn't using that as an excuse.
Going forward, Stuart said his team needs to be ready to "jam in some greasy rebounds". Goals can't always be the nice-looking shots made with clever passing but sometimes need to be "super greasy and lucky."
"Sometimes that's the difference on the scoreboard. Obviously, it's pretty disappointing losing both of those games to division rivals and that very much affects us in the standings," Stuart remarked. "There were some pretty long faces but we got back to work Monday and realized the sun comes up and we've got another chance to play hockey here this weekend."
One bright spot from the games was the return of Wranglers forward Nash Hilworth, who has been off for a month with a broken wrist. In his first game back with the Wranglers against the Storm he scored one of their two goals, which Stuart said was nice to see.
Looking ahead to the rest of the month, Stuart and the Wranglers plan to notch a few more victories on their belts before the Christmas break. Stuart noted that the Wranglers' current lineup is largely solidified, though he doesn't rule out the possibility of making a few more changes before the Jan. 10, 2025 trading deadline.
"We still have four more games this month and we got to make sure we do well in those. If the right guy becomes available you never know," Stuart remarked. "For now we're happy with the group we have but if we have the ability to add an impact player that can help us, we'll always look at that."
The Wranglers return to home ice on Friday, Dec. 13 to face off against the Spokane Braves and on Sunday, Dec. 15 against the Beaver Valley Nitehawks. Stuart said both games should be good ones, with Friday being their Billet Appreciation Night and Sunday their Fill the Net food drive.
"Our goal is to win the division still and compete for a championship."
