CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON)
The Reykjavik Puffin are already in playoff mode and that was more than enough to beat the struggling Sudbury Miners on Sunday night.
Braden Holtby made 24 saves to record his 7th shutout of the season on Sunday as the Puffin cruised past the Miners, 5-0. For Holtby, he is becoming a fan of playing the Miners, as this was his second shutout versus Sudbury in as many games.
"We have been trying to tighten up defensively as we get ready for the playoffs," Holtby said. "We know in our conference, we will need that type of structure to have success against some of the highest scoring teams in the CCHL. This was a good win for us."
Victor Hedman has three assists to lead the attack for the Puffin (48-26-3), who have now won four of their past five contests. With the victory, they have now closed the gap to a single point in the battle for fourth place in the CCHL's Canosa Conference with the Springfield Isotopes.
“It's going to be like this for the next couple of months, but everybody here in this locker room is comfortable with that kind of game and that's the reason why we're winning," Hedman said. "We're a tight defensive team and we've got to score on the few chances that we will get during the playoffs."
Ben Bishop turned aside 27 of 32 shots for Sudbury (18-54-6), which have now won only once in their past 10 games straight and appear to just be playing out the string.
"Not sure what you want me to say about this game. Terrible. We were outworked, simple as that," said Miners coach Derek Sutton. "We did not compete and that is a dangerous mindset for our young team.”
MINERS NUGGETS
- The injury bug just doesn’t want to leave Sudbury. This time, forwards Ben Smith and Lauri Korpikoski were both injured in the game against the Puffin and are expected to miss a game or two each.
- The next game for the Miners is Tuesday night, when they travel to Long Island to take on the Express. Game time at the Vale Centre is 7:30pm.
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