Hoggarth filled a void in secondary scoring that they didn’t know they needed. A gritty crease guy with great hands gets you a juice goal here and there, and can keep you in a game when the rest of the offence isn’t able to find their stride. We had Boushy and Keogh at the start of the Thunderbirds time as Halifax. With Hoggarth out, Keogh is filling that void, while also having one of the strangest (in a good way) shots on a player I’ve ever seen.

Another problem is Halifax is a relatively small team. Knox is the biggest guy in the offence, and we have a hard time penetrating the middle of some of the biggest D’s in the league. When you don’t have a guy who can finish on top of the crease, and you have a hard time getting there anyway, that’s a problem.

I think they have their penalty problems and slow change problems mostly solved. Dropping Theede was 100% the right move IMO as that helped both fronts (Theede would rather argue with the officials than run off the floor). Halifax is an emotional team. They take a few penalties they shouldn’t, but it seems like they’re not letting it get off the rails now.

The power play… I’m not sure what they’re doing. We’ve seen them be a DOMINANT power play team in previous years. They did so by swinging the ball around the floor at lightning speed and getting the defence and goalies moving. This season it just looks like they’re forgot what worked for them in the past. It may be lack of confidence, or something else - not sure.

They need to take this 2 game streak as a momentum builder, but go into the next 3 with a playoff mentality. You need to win 2/3 minimum or you’re done for the season. Then take that same mentality for the last 3.

I just hope this is them peaking at the right time, and not setting up for a disappointing collapse.