WESTVILLE ROAD
The Pictou County Crushers will make their second trip of the season to Truro on Friday for a game against the Bearcats.
After success at the recent MHL Showcase in Summerside (Oct. 10-11), where they posted quality wins over the Edmundston Blizzard and the Miramichi Timberwolves, the Crushers put up a lacklustre 5-2 road loss this past Saturday against the Summerside Western Capitals.
“We did not have a good effort at all. We got outworked,” said captain Michael Dill of the loss on P.E.I.
The Crushers captain expects the MHL’s South Division to be “wide open this year” and added that getting wins in the early months of the season is important because “they’ll be harder to get later in the season.”
Although it is far too early to think about the playoffs, the Crushers can leapfrog Truro into a playoff spot with a win on Friday: Pictou County is in fifth place in the South Division standings, a single point behind the Bearcats (6-6), who have lost five of their past six games.
Rookie blueliner Aiden Hickey isn’t expected to play this weekend (lower body injury, day-to-day), coach Doug Doull said.
“He’s probably been one of our most consistent defencemen, along with (Marc) Gagnon.” Doull said.
Pictou County (5-4-1) has two games in hand on Truro.
The Crushers lost 2-1 in Truro on Sept. 22. The division rivals won’t play at the Pictou County Wellness Centre until Nov. 20.
Pictou County will play at the Valley Bulldogs Saturday night and host the South Shore Lumberjacks next Thursday, their first home game since Oct. 5.
