Noah Jenken is just happy to be back on the ice.
The Guelph Storm defenceman was just hitting his stride with his new team after coming over from the London Knights in a trade, playing nine games, when he suffered a serious injury Jan. 10 during a game in Flint. He returned to action on the road last weekend in Sault Ste. Marie after missing 13 games.
Now he's trying to help his team squeeze into the playoffs.
Wednesday night they lost a much needed point when they fell 5-4 in a shootout to the Barrie Colts at the Sleeman Centre. It leaves them six points back of the last playoff spot with 12 games to go in the regular season.
"I spent a lot of time trying to just work on mental stuff before coming back," said Jenken. "It took me a few shifts to get back into full stride and it's going well now.
"It obviously sucked missing that much time, but we're just focused on making the playoffs here."
The details of the injury are still a bit unclear to Jenken himself. He was hit hard along the boards then as he went down appeared to hit the back of his neck or head on the edge of the dasher board as he fell to the ice from the original hit.
He spent the night in a Flint hospital, a little scared and a little bewildered about what happened.
"I'm not so sure," said Jenken of the actual incident.
He spent the night in hospital, with teammate Charlie Paquette's mom keeping watch until his own parents could get to Flint the next day.
"It was scary."
Wednesday's tilt in front of 4,069 fans was one of the more entertaining games the Sleeman Centre has seen this season. End-to-end action, a centre ice fight, some beautiful goals, and the Storm tying things up with just 4.4 seconds left in regulation with the goalie pulled.
The shootout was another thrilling five minutes, with goaltenders Colin Ellsworth in the Storm net and Ben Hrebik in the Colts net both standing on their heads, making several big saves.
The shootout was settled when Cole Beaudoin beat Ellsworth with a wrist shot in the fourth round of shooters.
Storm coach Cory Stillman said at this stage of the season getting one point still feels like a loss.
"Honestly, it does," Stillman said. "Especially when you come back into the room after the game and look and see that two teams you're trying to catch both won."
Owen Sound and Sault Ste. Marie both won Wednesday.
"Games in hand are great, but you have to win them," the Storm coach continued. "We had chances to get the two points in overtime and unfortunately we didn't."
Jett Luchanko had two goals and an assist to lead the Storm attack, with Jake Karabela and Charlie Paquette netting the other goals.
The game was scoreless after one period and 2-2 after forty minutes.
Two games apiece against teams just ahead of them in the standings – Owen Sound and Sarnia – will likely decide their playoff fate.
"Those are games that are must-win," Stillman said. "This late, they cannot be three-point games. We need to win them both."
Guelph hosts the Flint Firebirds on Friday.