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Pontiacs continue losing streak

Growing pains are going to be part of the process for the 2017-18 Bonnyville Pontiacs. The home team lost against the Oil Barons on Monday, Oct. 9, with a final score of 2-1. A 4-2 loss against Calgary on Friday, Oct.
Pontiacs defenceman Ryley Hogan chases Canmore Eagles forward Coy Prevost into the corner during the Pontiacs 4-2 loss against the Eagles on Saturday, Oct. 14 at the R.J.
Pontiacs defenceman Ryley Hogan chases Canmore Eagles forward Coy Prevost into the corner during the Pontiacs 4-2 loss against the Eagles on Saturday, Oct. 14 at the R.J. Lalonde Arena.

Growing pains are going to be part of the process for the 2017-18 Bonnyville Pontiacs.

The home team lost against the Oil Barons on Monday, Oct. 9, with a final score of 2-1. A 4-2 loss against Calgary on Friday, Oct. 13, had the Pontiacs gunning for a win, but they once again fell for a third time that week, with a 4-2 loss on home ice against the Canmore Eagles.

The Bonnyville Pontiacs welcomed the Calgary Canucks and the Canmore Eagles in their first back-to-back at the R.J. Lalonde of the 2017-18 season.

Coming off a 2-1 shootout loss to the Fort McMurray Oil Barons Monday, Oct. 9, the Pontiacs were looking to get back on track against the Canucks on Friday, Oct. 13.

Brandon Whistle got Bonnyville off to a good start, snapping his second goal of the season past Canucks' goaltender Caiden Kreitz 1:37 into the first period.

From there, the Canucks took over the game, with the help of one of their top scorers. Cooper Page tied the game for Calgary with just under five minutes left in the first, before adding his second just under five minutes into the second.

Unable to get out of their zone for most of the second period, the Pontiacs gave up a third goal to Calgary's Coby Mack with six minutes left in the frame.

With the help of P.J. Marrocco's tape-to-tape pass, Bekkam Willis brought the Pontiacs within one heading into the locker room. Despite a few quality chances, the Pontiacs were unable to solve Kreitz early in the third.

The missed opportunities would prove costly when Calgary's Michael Clarke made it 4-2 with three minutes to go, putting the game out of reach.

The Pontiacs were back in action at the R.J. Lalonde on Saturday, Oct. 14, against the Canmore Eagles.

Early on, it looked like it was going to be a long night for both fans and players from Bonnyville, with Canmore's Nolan Steer opening the scoring 37-seconds into the game.

Brushing the quick goal off and returning to their game plan, the Pontiacs began to find an offensive groove. Isaac Saniga continued his recent success, tying the game with just under nine minutes left in the first, with assists coming from Marrocco and Brandon Whistle.

Late in the period, they kept the momentum going on the power play, as Garin Butler notched his third of the season, giving the Pontiacs the lead. The response was exactly what head coach Rick Swan wanted to see after a lackluster performance the previous night.

“We challenged our guys because we didn't play a full 60-minutes last game, which is unacceptable. That's a staple of what we want to be about, we want to be about work and we want to be about compete,” said Swan.

Despite pouring on the offensive pressure, the Pontiacs gave up the lead late in the second period. In the third, two costly defensive breakdowns by the Pontiacs allowed Canmore to score two goals in quick succession. The lead proved to be too much for the Pontiacs to overcome, as they fell 4-2 for the second straight night.

“We have to start taking care of our own end. We can't be running around losing guys. Then, we have to bury our chances, we had quite a few tonight and we have to find a way to win those close hockey games,” expressed Pontiacs captain Charlie Gawlicki.

The loss is their third in a row and moves the team to 4-7-1, but the coaching staff isn't hitting the panic button anytime soon.

“We have the youngest team in our history, and in this league. We've got five 17-year-olds and two 16-year-olds, but we believe in this model,” said Swan. “As a coaching staff, we look at the first 20 games as our learning phase. Our second part of the year, you'll really start to see the makeup of this group, and then in the final part of the year, that's when you want to be playing your best hockey.”

With three quarters of the season left to play, there's plenty of time for the Pontiacs to turn it around, but it's going to take a lot of hard work.

The team took a break from the rink on Sunday, before getting back to work Monday for a full week of practice heading to Camrose on Thursday, Oct. 19, for a matchup against the Kodiaks.

“We're going to get away from it and have a team builder. We're going to try to have some fun and relieve some of the pressure. Then, as a coaching staff, we have to be ready to outwork our players. We have three practices this week, which is a lot of chances for quality repetition they can eventually use in the game,” said Swan.

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