Wild falter in final minutes to post fourth consecutive loss
By Bill Rea

The King Wild turned in a sold and competitive performance for 54 minutes in their match Saturday night with the Toronto Canada Moose.

But the real story was told in the final six minutes, and the evening ended with the Moose going home with a 5-0 win in their column.

The Moose notched a power-play goal in the first period, then the two teams spent most of the scoreless second trying to out-pressure the other side. Head Coach Paul Hampton thought his men were ready to take command when they went out for the third. "The other team was more prepared than us," he said.

The second Moose goal, came with a little more than five minutes left on the clock, as a Wild penalty was just ending. Hampton said one of their defencemen was tripped at the blue line and the referee missed it, allowing the opposition to score.

"That just sort of took the wind out of everybody's sails," he lamented.

The Wild didn't lack scoring opportunities, but they were having lots of trouble catching breaks. As the clock wound down, it was clear they were growing frustrated. The side will have to "get back to the drawing board this week," Hampton said.

The loss was costly, as it allowed the Richmond Hill Rams to move up into a tie for second place in the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League standings with the Wild. Both clubs have 25 points, 13 back of the Bradford Rattlers.

The Wild's next chance to break this four-game slump will come Sunday, when they host the Deseronto Thunder.

The Thunder are currently in fourth place in the standings with 20 points. The last time the two clubs met was Nov. 11, and King won 3-2 in overtime. That was the last win for the Wild.

Sunday's match will start at 5:45 p.m.