Bobby McMann snapped a wrist shot past the outstretched blocker of goaltender Tanner McCorriston 1:35 into overtime as the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs defeated the visiting Whitecourt Wolverines 5-4 on Friday night.
Bobby McMann snapped a wrist shot past the outstretched blocker of goaltender Tanner McCorriston 1:35 into overtime as the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs defeated the visiting Whitecourt Wolverines 5-4 on Friday night.
The goal allowed Bonnyville to walk off to their 29th victory of the season and climb within two points of the Wolverines, who sit second in the north division.
"Overall I thought the better team won, even though it took us overtime to do it," said Pontiacs head coach and GM Rick Swan.
The rapid development of rookie forward Zach Mills was quite evident on this night, as the 19-year-old, Cottage Grove, MN native led Bonnyville's offensive attack.
Right from the opening faceoff the Pontiacs were winning all of the one-on-one battles, beating the Wolverines to loose pucks and firing shot after shot on the opposing goal.
It was Mills who finally got the Pontiacs on the board, redirecting a puck past an unsuspecting McCorriston at the 12:45 mark of the opening frame. His 17th of the year gave Bonnyville a 1-0 lead after the first period, a frame which saw the home side outshoot the opposition 19-4.
Surprisingly, the bounces started going the Wolverines way in the second period and they were able to jump out to a sizeable lead.
Kevin Dominque and Hubert Delisle conducted a perfect two-on-one break, with Dominque flipping a backhand up over a helpless Olivier Charest 3:08 into the second period. Just 3:50 later Delisle would notch a goal of his own, ripping a wrist shot past Charest to give the Wolverines the 2-1 lead.
The visitors continued to capitalize on Pontiac blunders and notched a third goal ten minutes later, with former Pontiac Cory Santoro giving Whitecourt a 3-1 lead
"It is about being consistent and tonight at times we were inconsistent," said Swan. "We have to make sure we eliminate those costly errors that allow teams to get back in it with us."
With time dwindling down in the second, the tides turned and Bonnyville got the momentum back. Forward Ryan Piche started the Pontiacs comeback bid, snapping a shot past McCorriston from the slot to get Bonnyville back within a goal. Minutes later, with 1:55 left in the middle frame, Derek Brown took a beautiful cross ice pass from Chandler Klein and fired a wrist shot into the top shelf to even the game 3-3.
The game would stay tied until the 5:41 mark of the third period when a great single-handed effort by Mills would give the Pontiacs a 4-3 lead.
"I got a pass up the boards, cut to the middle and just tried putting it on net," said Mills. "I didn't expect it to go in."
The goal held up throughout the third and the Pontiacs took a 4-3 lead into the final minutes of the game.
"We were thinking we had this game in the bag," said Mills. "But you can never think like that. You have to play until the buzzer and we didn't do that.
With 1:06 remaining in regulation Erik Pedersen snuck a shot past Charest and tied the game 4-4, sending the contest to overtime.
Overtime wouldn't last long, with McMann sending the Pontiacs fans home happy just 1:35 into the extra period.
Gunnar Neilsen's Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs debut had it all - a penalty shot, three fights and 11 combined goals.
"It was definitely not what I was expecting," said Neilsen. "It is nice to get the first game out of the way. I enjoyed it and I look forward to moving forward with these guys."
Neilsen, an 18-year-old netminder acquired in a trade with Mission City (PJHL) earlier this month, picked up his first AJHL win on Saturday night backstopping the Pontiacs to a 6-5 win over the Camrose Kodiaks.
The contest was his first game in over a month as he filled in to give Bonnyville's No. 1 keeper Olivier Charest much needed rest.
"I thought he was really good at times. I know there were probably some goals he would like to have back, but it was his first test," said Bonnyville head coach and GM Rick Swan.
Bonnyville's offence got Neilsen's evening off to a great start, striking twice in the games opening 92 seconds.
Bobby McMann's 26th of the season started the scoring at 1:14 and was followed by a Ryan Piche goal just 18 seconds later. Piche crashed the Kodiaks net and stuffed a pass from Josh Borynec past Camrose netminder Brodan Salmond while falling to the ice.
Immediately after Bonnyville had opened up a 2-0 lead the Kodiaks started getting physical, initiating scrums with Pontiacs defenders whistle after whistle. Brinson Pasichnuk wasn't having any of it, dropping the gloves with Ryan Rebelato at the 11:28 mark.
Just 49 seconds later the Kodiaks were at it again. Forward Tanner Younghans goaded Bonnyville's Erik Donald into a scrap, eliminating another Pontiacs defender from the game.
With two defenceman kicked out of the contest for fighting forwards Steenn Pasichnuk and Chasetan Braid saw shifts on the back end.
"It just shows the depth of our team that we are able to handle that type of adversity against a good hockey club," said Swan. "I thought those guys did a good job to alleviate minutes from Gen Bryshun, Bryan Gerstenfeld and Ben Mack."
PJ Marrocco got Camrose on the board 2:03 into the second period after Neilsen got caught playing the puck behind the Bonnyville net and was unable to get back into his crease in time.
"It is a big adjustment learning new systems, especially this late in the year," said Neilsen. "A few times tonight there were a couple miscommunications, but for the most part I am starting to figure it out."
Josh Borynec answered back 10:30 later, sliding a nice pass from Ben Mack past Salmond. Alden Dupuis added to the Bonnyville lead minutes later cutting across the middle of the zone and firing a spin-around backhand into the top right corner.
Minutes later, after a scramble in front of the Pontiacs goal, a penalty shot was awarded to Camrose after the official saw a Bonnyville player cover the puck in the crease. Neilsen came up huge going left to right and making a right pad save on Kodiaks forward Ethan James.
Camrose would climb back into the contest notching a goal with 1:13 left in the second and another 8:11 into the third to cut Bonnyville's lead to 4-3.
Bonnyville's big guns got them the three goal lead back with Kyler Hehn and Bobby McMann scoring goals 1:57 a part midway through the final period.
Another defensive lapse by the Pontiacs saw their large lead evaporate in a span just 40 seconds. Cole McBride snuck a shot under Neilsen's arm at 16:58 and Tyler Morrision tucked the puck past Neilsen's right pad at 17:38 to bring the score to 6-5.
"We need to fix some things defensively to make sure our mistakes don't keep games as tight as they are," said Swan. "There was a lot of character out there shown. They pushed back and we stepped up and pushed back as well."
Bonnyville held on to capture their 30th victory of the season.
The third place Pontiacs are back in action on Friday night in Spruce Grove.
