Three goals from Chase Brown and two from Ryan Evans propelled the Ice to three-wins over the weekend.
Up against the Wainwright Bisons in front of a home crowd on Friday night, the Ice got off to a slow start but managed to bounce back in the third period. Josh Kohut picked up two points in the 3-2 victory.
The following night the Ice headed down to Lloydminster for the first of their two games over the weekend versus the Bandits. Tied at one apiece heading into the final period, the Ice fought hard and came out on top beating the Bandits 2-1.
Back on the road for their final away game of the regular season on Sunday afternoon, the Ice dominated the game in the second and third period. Despite being down 2-1 at the end of the first, two goals each from Brown and Evans helped push them through to a 6-2 win.
“It's not just because we're showing up, it's cause we're coming out and working hard,” said head coach Scott Hood.
Hood added, “It's just a matter of staying focused and keep going forward and not letting that foot off the gas for what starts in two weeks.”
Ice take down Bisons
Sitting in the fifth spot in the NEAJBHL standings heading into Friday night's game, the Ice were hoping to take down the first place Wainwright Bisons.
Things weren't looking good right off the bat; Wainwright took an early lead after netting their first goal of the night just a minute and a half in.
While the Ice managed to hold off the Bisons offence for the remainder of the period, the second frame got off to another rocky start. Less than a minute in, Tyler Schubada managed to find the back of the net to give the visitors a two-goal lead.
At the 4:12 mark in the second, Brown finally got the Ice on the scoreboard bringing the game back within one-point.
Heading into the final period 2-1, the Ice hit their stride, determined to shut-down the Bisons. Just under eight minutes in, Kohut fired the puck in the net to tie the game at two. With 6:36 left in the game, a pass from Braden Carr set up Mike Harbich for the game-winning goal.
“It's always big getting a big win against Wainwright, that's for sure. They're definitely our rival over the last four years so it's always nice getting the win again,” said Harbich. “We've got everybody going right now so we're looking good.”
The 3-2 win bumped the Ice back into fourth place in the league standings. It was a spectacular win for Cold Lake netminder Cody Janzen, who made 44 saves for the team.
“It's always big against Wainwright, they're a team we battle against night in and night out. It's nice to get three big wins against them this season,” said Janzen. “It's just getting ready for the playoffs, we've got to use these games and keep winning going into playoffs.”
Ice steal four-points from Bandits
Cold Lake was on the road Saturday looking for a repeat of their last match-up with Lloydminster, which saw them take a 8-2 victory.
Just over four minutes into the first, an unassisted goal to Donavan Bibeau started the game off on a high note for the Ice. With 3:45 left to go in the period, the Bandits answered with a goal of their own to tie the game at one apiece.
After a scoreless second period, both teams were looking to nab a goal in the third. At the 12:30 mark in the final frame, Taylor Anshelm tipped the puck in the net off a pass from Guillaume St-Gelais to win the game 2-1.
The Ice were back in Lloydminster the following day hoping to bring home another two points. The Bandits got on the board first with a quick goal just 35-seconds into the game. Ice forward Chad Schultheiss got the puck past Lloydminster goalie Matt Imray to tie things up. Two minutes later, just after the 11-minute mark, the Ice allowed a second Bandits goal to give the home team a 2-1 lead heading into the second.
While it wasn't the start they were hoping for, the Ice came back strong notching five goals in the second and third periods.
Evans set the pace for Cold Lake, finding the back of the net 40-seconds into the second frame. Less than two minutes later, Curtis Gullackson netted what would be the game-winning goal and his first since joining the Cold Lake Ice.
With a less than seven minutes to go in the second, thanks to a pass from Bibeau, Evans capitalized on the goal-scoring opportunity to grab his second goal of the night and bring the Ice up 4-2.
Brown hit his stride in the third. After finding the back of the net 8:25 into the final period, Brown stuck the final nail in the coffin with less than two minutes left in the game.
The final score was 6-2 for the Cold Lake Ice. The win put the Ice up to 40-points in the standings and kept them in fourth place, five-points above the fifth spot Onion Lake Border Chiefs and trailing the third ranked St. Paul Canadiens by eight points.
“Obviously fourth is huge, that's where you want to get to have home ice advantage,” said Hood. “At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if we're fourth, fifth or sixth, as long as we're playing well we're going to be fine going in (to playoffs).”
Cold Lake will be at home for their last regular season game on Feb. 6, when they'll be taking on the seventh place Vegreville Rangers. Puck drop is 8 p.m. at the Imperial Oil Place arena.
