After playing three one-score games to start the season, Durango hockey played in two more lopsided games against Steamboat Springs on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately for Demons fans, Durango dropped one of those contests.
Durango beat Steamboat Springs 4-1 on Friday before losing to the Sailors 4-2 on Saturday.
“At this point in the season, I'm pleased with those results,” Durango hockey interim head coach Will Daniels said. “I wish they could have been better. We were pretty beat up on Saturday and didn't have one of our players that could have made a big difference. Sawyer Jones had a penalty at the end of the game that was deemed a misconduct and so he had a one-game suspension on Saturday that he had to serve. He's one of our top point scorers. But he's also had some trouble with penalties and those are some of the things we're working on still.”
The Demons moved to 2-2-1 overall and 1-1 in the 4A Mountain League. Steamboat Springs, which was ranked second in 4A in the preseason, moved to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the 4A Mountain League.
On Friday, Durango and Steamboat Springs were tied 1-1 after the first period. Durango then took a 2-1 lead into the third period and finished the game with two goals in the third to win 4-1.
Junior Wynn Daniels led the way with two goals. Sophomore Preston Loughman had a goal and junior Sawyer Jones had a goal. Sophomore Jak Phetsrithong had an assist, sophomore Baker Blunt had two assists and junior Seamus McParland-Daab had an assist.
Senior goaltender Evan Brock had 27 saves for Durango.
On Saturday, Steamboat Springs took a 2-0 lead after the first period but Durango battled back with two goals in the second period for a 2-2 tie. In the third period, the Sailors scored two goals to pull away for the 4-2 victory.
Senior Connor Jones and sophomore Baker Blount each had a goal for Durango. Junior Juno Bubolo had an assist. Senior goaltender Luka Remec had 34 saves for Durango in the loss.
Gavin Wittlinger scored two goals to lead Steamboat Springs.
Daniels said both games were very physical. He also said the team worked so hard for Friday’s win that they could’ve been tired on Saturday.
Durango had five power plays on Saturday but couldn’t convert any of them. Daniels attributed that struggle to part of the team being from Telluride and part of the team being from Durango. Therefore, the team doesn’t practice together too much.
“This year, we have gotten together a little bit and the kids know each other a little bit more than they did last year,” Daniels said. “So we started off with more chemistry, but we just still don't have that time on ice. We've got the kids together more, which is awesome for the chemistry. But those power play shifts aren't one line that's been playing together the whole game. It's a mix of a couple of lines. They're attempting to do some of the stuff that we practice, but they just aren't executing.”
Durango plays at Caprock Academy in Grand Junction on Dec. 20 at 7 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
