Days 106-109: N/Arry a worry

Iqaluit, NU (CP)

After losing to the StrapHangers on the weekend, the Rovers were feeling pretty down on themselves as they headed to Kitchener to battle the Mounties. Trying to stem their worst slide of the season, the Rovers started Chris Mason and he provided the spark they needed, stopping 24 of 26 shots to earn a 2-2 tie. Alexander Frolov and Glen Murray scored late third period goals to dig out from a 2-0 deficit to gain the single point. The tie came at a cost, though, as both Pavol Demitra and Eric Brewer went down with injuries.

The next day saw the Rovers back on the ice at home facing the Capones, the team that started their current funk. Sticking with Mason in goal, the coaching staff decided to take the unorthodox approach of not replacing Demitra and Brewer in the lineup and instead playing with only 11 forwards and 5 D. The move paid off as the Rovers got a hat-trick from Cory Stillman and Mason stopped 29 of 32 shots for a 6-3 Rovers win. "We've got a lot of guys that could play more minutes if we asked them, so we figured we'd let them all pick up the slack with double-shifting, etc. Everyone really responded to the extra ice". When questioned as to whether this was a calculated move or whether the coaching staff was simply lax in setting new line combinations, Stringer bristled. "Come on, how stupid do I look?"

Two days later the Rovers were in Waterloo to face the Roadkill. Opting to ice the shorthanded lineup again and starting Mason for the third straight contest, the Rovers won 5-3 as five different scorers contributed, including Murray's team-leading 18th. "I wonder if we should bother ever replacing anyone who's out of the lineup if these results continue to hold", Stringer mused after the win.

The Rovers now have a day off before hosting Kitchener in a critical matchup. They currently sit four points back of the Mounties and two points ahead of the Capones with each having twelve remaining games. Neither Brewer nor Demitra is expected to be ready for the Kitchener game, so the coaching staff will again have to decide how to handle their lineup. We'll wait and see how they respond as game day approaches.