It was a dicey night in Port Hope Sunday as the Predators, previously unbeaten on home turf, dropped what was touted as a big game, 6-4, to the visiting Voyageurs. Kingston was one of only two teams in the Preds’ division to beat them so far this season, previously downing them in overtime in Kingston.

Without the services of suspended Chad McQuaid and Danny Greiner, the Preds have already been bitten by the injury bug; their number one blueliner, Alex Tillaart, was sidelined with an ailment and Mitch Moffatt is also hurt.

Sunday’s game opened badly for the Preds, as the Vees got the lead early with a goal only 53 seconds into the first period. Port Hope Captain Jeremy McCarty countered with a short-handed tally from Jared Barker at 5:20 to tie it up.

A moment later, at 6:17, Kingston scored another, this one on the power play — their first of four on the night. The goal scorer was Steve Evans, who had a hat trick for the Vees as the night progressed.

Barker and McCarty combined again, only this time Barker counted, with a little help from Jake Taylor, to close out the first period scoring at 13:29.

Opening the second, Evans quickly put two more on the scoreboard, at 0:52 and 1:26, both on the power play.

Penalties stacked up, which seems to be a common theme of Preds’ games lately. After Kingston was given two minutes for interference at 10:11, Port Hope racked up seven straight infractions.

Of five goals scored in the second three came late. McCarty with help from his wingman, Tyler Miller, were next to score at 17:57. Kingston notched another power-play marker at 18:41, then an unassisted goal at 19:01.

Two Preds, Vincent Masters and Barker, were each assessed abuse of officials misconducts at 18:31 and 19:01 respectively.

Things calmed down a little bit in the third period, when Port Hope’s defence buckled down and shut the door on Kingston. Midway through the frame, Predator Steve Harding was ejected from the game, this time not for fighting or for his quipping at the officials, but for committing three stick infractions in the same game. He had been penalized in the second for high sticking and slashing, so a cross-checking call in the third was enough to get him the boot.

Late in the game, after fending off the Vees’ power play, Port Hope made good on their own power play; newcomer Nils Hanslinger scored in the dying minutes at 18:54 with Taylor’s help.

Young Spencer Finney, who is seeing a lot of ice now that starter goalie Billy Stone has been traded to Blind River of the Northern Ontario Junior A Hockey League, said the night went “really badly.”

With his teammates giving him no help on more than one occasion, he said, “I made some good stops, but there were some bad goals. I was getting upset, but I just try not to think about it.”

Finney said he was “kinda sad” that Stone is gone. Stone had been a mentor figure for Finney, who is only in his second season in the league.

“It’s kind of good for me, though, because now I get to play more,” Finney said.

He hopes to impress Preds’ staff with his puck-stopping abilities. “I’m just going to go out and try my best to win every game I play.”

Port Hope head coach Brendan O’Grady, who has worked with Finney before the ’08-09 campaign, said he “will get his time to play. The reality is, he’s still a young goaltender in this league, and there were a couple of goals that he needed to make those saves for us, but he played well in Trenton on Friday night and again last night with 50 shots.”

The team’s inability to get it together Sunday night was due, in part, to, “taking a lot of penalties,” Finney said. “We took a lot in the second period, and nothing was going our way.”

Following the game, Finney said “there’s a bad atmosphere. It's pretty disappointing. We have to play more as a team.” But a game where the team’s weaknesses are exposed can be a good thing. “I think it’s going to bring us closer together when we know what it feels like to lose,” he said.

Every week, it seems like everyone is saying the same things — the team has to stop taking so many penalties, and be more disciplined. The Preds took 48 minutes in penalties Sunday evening. “They had 16 power plays and four five-on-threes,” O’Grady said. “So we still have to kill them and be a really good hockey team and score a lot of short-handed goals, which isn’t going to happen, or stay out of the frickin’ box.”

Last week, O’Grady said, the team is marked by officials, who do not like the Preds. “Well, you get a guy like Steve Harding, who is known for being aggressive, and some of those calls are questionable, where he touches a guy, or he’s the only one who gets a call. But we’re going to have to keep our composure. But right now, it’s us against the world.”

At the start of the year, Port Hope had pegged Kingston as the team to beat. With two games against the Vees now in the books, both losses, O’Grady said he is not worried. “Kingston put a lot of money into their team, which our owners did, too, but it’s September, and Kingston looks as though they’re pretty content with the lineup. We’ve got a new goalie coming, new forwards and new D. And last night Tillaart, McQuaid, Greiner and Moffatt weren’t in the lineup, and I think if we had those guys on the ice last night, it would’ve been a different game.”

Right now, the team needs to refocus for this Friday’s road game against the Peterborough Stars. “We’ll be short again on Friday, McQuaid and Greiner are still suspended, and we’ve still got some holes to fill to make the team complete. but I pity the team we play against when we play a full 60 minutes,” O’Grady said.

The Predators are back at home Sunday night to close out the second half of a home-and-home against the Stars; it is also the start of a three-game home stand for the Preds, as they play both Friday, Oct. 10 and Sunday, Oct. 12 in Port Hope on the Thanksgiving weekend.