Michael Schnattinger stares down a Winnipeg player Friday night after replacing starter Dylan Ernst, who gave up four goals on seven shots against the Ice (Image Credit: Allen Douglas / Kamloops Blazers)

By Chad Klassen

BLAZERS STRUGGLES

No panic in Blazers room after winless weekend, confidence in Ernst remains

Oct 25, 2022 | 4:32 PM

KAMLOOPS — The weekend started with a flurry of Winnipeg goals Friday night, leading to Dylan Ernst being pulled after four goals allowed on just seven shots.

It ended with a lopsided loss to the Giants in Langley, an effort Shaun Clouston called the team’s worst of the weekend.

“Mentally, we were trying to do too much and we got on the wrong side of the puck and weren’t very good defensively,” noted Clouston. “[But we] put up 40-plus shots each night. We deserved one of them for sure.”

It’s the Blazers’ first three-game losing streak since dropping three straight to Kelowna last December. However, there is no panic in the room about an 0-for-3 weekend — Memorial Cup season or not.

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“No, I don’t think that’s it at all,” said forward Daylan Kuefler. “I could see [fans panicking] looking in on it, but we’re confident in our group. We’ll talk it out, we’ll figure it out. Every team has stretches like this. We’re confident in this group.”

Defenseman Ethan Brandwood added, “I don’t think there’s any panic in our room. We know it’s early in the season. We’re just going to have to get back to our game plan. It’s not about who’s not in this room. It’s about who’s here.”

“So in ’19-’20 we start 0-3. There was no panic. Middle of that season, we had a five-game skid. It’s hockey,” noted Clouston.

Goaltending and defensive coverage was a problem throughout the weekend. Ernst lasted 16 minutes on Friday night after the four goals allowed. It makes you wonder whether he’s ready to lead this team to the Memorial Cup, but the team is sticking with Ernst for at least the foreseeable future.

“He was .930 [saves percentage] coming into the weekend. He had one bad night that we had to get him out of there,” said Clouston. “Four periods out of the season that he wasn’t great, wasn’t at the top of his game. Up until then, he had been terrific for us.”

Kuefler added, “I told him from day one, if he put in the work, that I’ll have all the confidence in the world in him. I stand by that. It doesn’t matter who you are. The best players in the world have bad nights every once in a while. We have confidence in him that he’ll find his game.”

Ernst knows he needs to be better. His confidence is still there.

“It’s pretty good still. I had a good first six games. I’ve been watching those videos and just trying to get back to it, so it’s still good,” he said.

Clouston says at the end of the day, this goose-egg may in fact help the team build some resiliency in the long run.

“As challenging as the weekend was, a little bit painful for the group to go through, I think it’s a tremendous opportunity to get better.”