The Bonnyville Pontiacs were able to extend their winning streak with wins over Sherwood Park and Camrose.
Starting off Wednesday, Oct. 19, the Pontiacs got off to a slow start against the Crusaders. Last year's leading scorer, Tyler Maltby would deke the Pontiacs defenders and score the first goal of the game just over two minutes in. This was followed by another Crusaders goal 10 minutes later to give Sherwood Park a 2-0 lead.
The Crusaders controlled the majority of the play for the first 15 minutes but Derek Brown would finally solve the Crusaders goaltender.
“I think the guys were hanging onto the Sherwood Park team we played last year, sometimes that gets into your head a little bit. I think they had the start that they wanted, they were coming into Bonnyville and they've had some success in here before. It carried on from last year and we allowed them to get us on our heels a little bit,” said head coach Rick Swan.
It looked as though the Pontiacs would be going into the first intermission trailing 2-1 but Alden Dupuis broke away down the ice with just under 15 seconds remaining. He passed the puck over to Ryan Symington who scored with five seconds left on the clock. The period ended with a tie score.
Five minutes into the second period Brandon Whistle, who left the first period with an injury, came back and beat the Sherwood Park goaltender down low 15 seconds into a power play. Bonnyville had their first lead of the hockey game.
The Pontiacs had changed the momentum. Three minutes after the Whistle goal, rookie Jared Power scored his first of the game on a spin shot from the top of the circles.
This goal caused a goalie change for Sherwood Park. Zac Klassen was out, and in came Dorian Laganiere-Labranche.
The game began to get tougher as the lead increased. The Crusaders took a lot more penalties after the whistles, which allowed for some Pontiacs power plays.
“I thought they did a good job tonight, especially from a discipline aspect. That's a rough team, there was lots of stick work going on and lots of our guys are being asked to fight and we're saying why do we need to do that lets respond the right way and that's on the scoreboard,” added Swan.
This allowed the Pontiacs the opportunity to continue the momentum. Brown scored his second of the game through the five hole of Laganiere-Labranche.
The period ended with a score of 5-2 for Bonnyville.
The rough play continued throughout final 20 minutes. The period also remained scoreless until Brown would take a shot on net.
This would be tipped in by a Crusaders defenceman and into the net. Brown completed his hat trick and continued the win streak. The final score was 6-2 for the Pontiacs.
“Obviously you never go into a game planning to get a hat trick. I was just going out there to do what I usually do and if that means putting the puck in the net then I'll do that. I've just been doing it all for the guys and at the end of the day we just was that two points,” added Brown.
Pontiacs continue win streak in Camrose
The Bonnyville Pontiacs were able to win their seventh game in a row against the Camrose Kodiaks Saturday evening.
Brandon Whistle started the scoring with an assist from Erik Donald. Whistles seventh of the season gave the Pontiacs a lead.
This wouldn't last long as Camrose tied the game just a few minutes later.
The score was tied going into the second period.
PJ Marrocco scored on the power play 1:38 into the second period to give Bonnyville the lead back. A goal from Luke Israel followed this a minute later. The Pontiacs now led by two goals.
Ten minutes later PJ Marrocco scored his second of the game to give Bonnyville four goals on the night. Camrose scored on the power play a few moments later, but a scoreless third period gave the Pontiacs a 4-2 victory.
“I think the biggest thing for me as a coach, don't let success become our enemy. That's the big thing. Yeah we have to enjoy that win, but, we still know that the AJHL is going to get tougher and tougher and teams are going to now start looking at the (seven-game) win streak and the top of the standings and they know they have to come out and do their homework,” explained Swan.
The Pontiacs next game is Oct. 26 against the Saints in Spruce Grove.
