Road-weary Miners are no match for Chinook, lose 7-2.

CANADIAN PRESS (Calgary, AB)

The best part of the current Sudbury Miners four-game road trip is when they can finally say that it is over. 
Sudbury dropped 0-3-0 over their annual Western swing with Saturday night’s 7-2 loss to the league-leading Calgary Chinook.  It was the Miners fifth straight defeat and eighth in their last nine games.   The Miners hope to salvage a win on this trip on Monday night when they travel to Seattle to take on the Reign.
Chinook defenseman Shea Weber continues his outstanding season and the same can be said for the rest of the Calgary Chinook.
Weber scored twice, and Sidney Crosby had three assists to pace the Chinook attack.  Goaltender Carey Price would only need to make 13 saves to get the win.  The win improved the Chinook home record to 16-2-1 and extends their win streak to 8 games.
“It’s a tough trip any way you look at it. We didn’t look like we had much juice at all here tonight. I don’t want to overreact or say anything. We have to act. Obviously, we’re not playing good enough.” said Miners coach Derek Sutton following Saturday’s loss.
Many of the issues that have plagued the Miners all year were on full display against the Chinook, chief among them was turning pucks over and playing poorly in their own zone. The Miners had too many instances of getting their signals crossed when the Chinook were pressing and found themselves out of position around Ben Bishop’s net.  Bishop would face a total of 52 shots on the night.
For once, Sudbury did get the start they wanted, jumping out to a 1-0 lead after the first period on a goal by Radim Vrbata.  But, as has been their pattern lately, what they did well didn’t translate through the entire game.
Shea Theodore, with his first of the year, also scored for the Miners in the loss.

MINERS NUGGETS

- With the loss, the Miners now drop to 2-16-0 on the road.
- Defenseman Darnell Nurse will participate in the warm-up but was a late scratch versus Calgary.  He is expected to be back in the line-up on Monday night.
- The Miners return to action on Monday night, as they continue their western swing in Seattle to take on the Reign.  Game time is 7:00pm.