The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“To win in tight games shows a lot about teams”
[ by Than Acuff ]After taking down Battle Mountain 5-1 and then edging out a 2-1 win over Summit, the Crested Butte Titans hockey team rattled off two more wins battling to a 2-1 win over Durango before cruising to a 9-0 win over Rampart.
The Durango game would close out a three-game stretch over four days for Crested Butte as they laced up the skates on Monday, January 30 to face Durango.
“Playing three games like that I feel like it’s hard to jump into that third game and I wasn’t sure what to expect,” says coach Billy Watson.
Despite the previous two tough games, the Titans appeared no worse for wear when they opened against Durango. Crested Butte set the pace early in the game with stout defensive work from Marshall Spann and Brendan Hartigan and a concerted effort to hold the puck in Durango’s zone in the early minutes of the first period.
That initial effort paid off for Crested Butte as Sam Dukeman followed on a shot from Grady Buckhanan and stuffed the low angle shot past the Durango goalie for a 1-0 lead four minutes into the game.
As the first period continued, Durango started gaining momentum having shaken off the bus ride to take control of the game. Crested Butte killed off two penalties in the first period to hold onto their slim lead, but fatigue started to creep in on the Titans as the period continued. Despite playing the end of the first period on their back skate, Crested Butte held the lead through it all with goalie Jack Perkins coming through with key saves.
Crested Butte opened the second period looking to step up their physicality and slow Durango down, but Durango’s puck movement had the Titans on their back skate once again.
Durango eventually tied the game 1-1 three minutes into the second period and looked to take the lead with a succession of powerplays. But the Titans proved their ilk over the next eight minutes with Perkins coming through again and when they killed off a penalty in the 13th minute, the Titans gained some momentum heading into a powerplay.
This time the Titans set up a more cohesive powerplay to set up two great looks on net. Durango’s goalie turned both away but another Durango penalty at the end of the second period gave the Titans the advantage they needed and Dukeman scored his second goal of the game taking a pass from Hartigan to pick the near post for a 2-1 lead.
Ultimately, the difference in the game came down to composure as the diligence and hustle of Crested Butte frustrated Durango. Both Perkins and the Durango goalie came up big for their subsequent teams, but Durango started to unravel as the game wore on. They racked up a series of penalties down the stretch and the Titans closed out the final five minutes of the game on the powerplay to seal the 2-1 win. Perkins finished with 39 saves.
“We were just getting under their skin and they were getting frustrated,” says Watson. “Credit to the boys for getting three in a row. To win in tight games shows a lot about teams. I think we can tidy more things up a little bit. We just need to move the puck quickly and efficiently.”
The Titans got a well-deserved break from game action to continue working on the finer points and heal up with players still out due to injuries. They returned to action on Saturday, February 4 and rolled to a 9-0 win and will now head into an incredibly tough stretch as they face Durango on the road and then host Glenwood Springs in Gunnison on Wednesday, February 15 at 2 p.m. They finish the regular season with two games on the road against Steamboat Springs February 17-18 and then head into the post season that following week.
