Prokop hat trick and Palmer shutout: The game the Bears needed

For a team that’s been snubbed a playoff spot, Trinity Western didn’t play too badly on January 31, but Golden Bears’ goalie Tyler Palmer just played better. He made key saves in the first two periods and glided through the third with only one shot on goal.

Maybe it could be said that the Bears’ defence, who blocked more shots than Palmer in the third, deserves the praise. Or the offensive pressure from Brett Hyland and Sean Tschigerl who contributed to 51 shots on goal but just couldn’t make anything go in should be talked about more.

Who knows, but it starts between the pipes for the Bears who now need to rack up their goal differential lest we see a tie for playoffs.

“Palmer wasn’t tested as much at times, but he was there for some big deflections. So those are tougher games for goalies, when you don’t see much action for a little bit and then all [of a] sudden, it’s a pepper, pepper rebound, screen opportunity. He stayed focused on what he needs to do,” Bears’ head coach Ian Herbers said.

You could say Palmer’s riding the high of backing up for the Edmonton Oilers on January 27 and carrying in a much needed sense of confidence after last week’s 4.00 goals against average.

The whole team needs that confidence though, and with a 5-0 score, it looks like they found it.

“We played well tonight. We kept the game simple, kept moving pucks in a hurry, and created other opportunities.”

Vets get some much needed attention

Josh Prokop in particular capitalized on his seven shots with a hat trick to close the scoring as the final push in a veteran game started by Jakin Smallwood.

“Smallwood was probably the best I’ve seen in a long time. So it’s really nice to see when he’s playing like that and controlling pucks and not throwing them away. He’s a very effective player for us, and a lead player,” Herbers said.

Smallwood found himself with Hyland and Tschigerl after Connor McClennon’s injury woes kept him out for the second week in a row.

Then “Prokop, with the three goals. It’s nice to see him get rewarded for his work. [Eric] Florchuk played a little more determined tonight, and it showed in his play. And [Tyler Preziuso] was skating again.”

The veterans have been cautious up till now, and maybe overlooked in light of how the rookies lead the regular season, but playoffs are for vets. If Trinity Western wants to load their defensive line on Hyland and Tschigerl, then great. The staple rookies see some harder pairings while Prokop and his group get to warmup before they’re really needed.

To Herbers’ credit, he stacked his second — and most effective — power play unit with third or fourth-year forwards.

Fix the penalties, then look at the power play

“I thought our power play looked dangerous tonight. We only scored the one power play goal [by Prokop], but we created a lot of opportunities that we just didn’t put in the back the net.”

True, but perhaps even better is not giving Trinity Western the chance to work on their power play by taking offset penalties, a novel idea for the Bears.

“[The] key is moving pucks quickly. If you try and hold on to pucks too long and make the hard plays, then you put yourself in a bad situation and opportunities to be taking penalties. So we want quick puck movement and short shifts,” Herbers said.

How simple is that? Of course we’ll find out on February 1, if the Bears can limit their penalties for more than just one night. With how physical Trinity Western likes to play, this could prove difficult.