NEWS

(pictured - Jacob Hayhurst, right, celebrates the opening goal of the 2014 RBC Cup, although the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots would fall 2-1 to the MJHL Dauphin Kings - photo credit: Andy Devlin/Hockey Canada Images)

By Jamie Neugebauer - Toronto Lakeshore Patriots

Jesse Bernard wired home the winner with 1:37 remaining in regulation as the Toronto Patriots could not resist the Dauphin Kings’ rally and fell 2-1 in Game 1 of the RBC Cup on Saturday.

Toronto outshot Dauphin 42-29 on the contest but former OJHL goaltender Michael Stiliadis was spectacular in net for the Manitoba-based outfit.

Afterward, Pats’ head coach Jason Fortier was disappointed but not disheartened by the defeat.

“Their goalie stood on his head, he had an unbelievable game,” he said.

“We put 42 shots on the kid tonight and gave up under 30 and most nights you’re going to walk away with a win when you do that. But at the end of the day we had a whole bunch of chances, and they buried theirs.”

The first period went by scoreless as both teams were attempting to find their footing and subsequently lacked the sharpness to finish.

Jacob Hayhurst got the scoring going at the 2:57 mark of the second period when he found a loose puck in a scrum in front of Stiliadis, and his snap shot beat the beleaguered Dauphin goaltender who had lost his stick in the preceding pressure.

Marcus Rose almost made it two moments later when Nicholas Ursitti put him in alone on a mini breakaway, but his wrister just missed over Stiliadis’ left shoulder.

Niko Kovachis’ well-placed point shot, through a screen on the power play at 9:30 of the second capped off a furious series of Patriots’ pressure and beat Stiliadis, but it could not beat the post to his left.

Buitenhuis continued to frustrate the Kings with solid play on the rare occasions that the Manitobans could get a clear chance, with his best coming at 15:53 in the second period when he stopped Justin Valentino from point-blank range.

Dauphin finally found a way through via Tanner Butler, who had two chances in tight on Buitenhuis, and jammed home his second effort at 7:56 of the third period.

Feric came closest to breaking the deadlock first when Stiliadis lunged to his left to close off an open cage from the Pats’ forward with five minutes remaining in regulation. 

Then directly after a furious push by Toronto, the Kings made them pay for their lack of finish with a tic-tac-toe passing play in the slot, ending with a perfect snap shot from the slot by Bernard with just over a minute and a half left in the contest.

Despite the defeat, Fortier was encouraged by some of the things he saw from his club.

“I thought we had our speed,” he said.

“We were moving well but it’s game 1, we had some bad breaks and we caused a few turnovers on their end but we didn’t capitalize. A couple little mistakes by us went in, but Dauphin has a good hockey team and I thought we played a good game. If we come out and play like that and keep building off it each day, I’ll be happy.”

The Patriots have not lost two in a row during the entirety of the post-season and will put that record on the line in their second game of the event on Sunday when they take on the Yorkton Terriers, puck drops at 2:00 p.m. 

“Our guys are resilient, they’ll bounce back,” Fortier said. 

“Sure we’re disappointed and not happy but were going to keep moving forward and see where we can go with this.”

For the full game summary, please CLICK HERE.

Both teams are back in action Sunday; the Kings try for a 2-0 start when they take on the Carleton Place Canadians in the late game (7 p.m. PT), while the Patriots face the Yorkton Terriers in the matinee (2 p.m. PT).