The Bonnyville Pontiacs dominated in front of a packed house to take their season opener by a score of 6-3 over the visiting Lloydminster Bobcats.
The Pontiacs held the pace of the game for the majority of the first period, out shooting the Bobcats 7-1 in the first 10 minutes of action.
At the 8:19 mark of the first period the Pontiacs would finally solve the Lloydminster goaltender with an unassisted goal coming from PJ Marrocco.
The crowd was loud and into the quick pace of the season opener until just over two-minutes after that Marrocco goal, when Lloydminster would tie the game on just their second shot.
The score remained tied for the rest of the first period. For the opening period of the first game of the season, according to head coach Rick Swan, the intensity was high and the speed of the game was in mid-season form for the Pontiacs.
“I think that any team is difficult to play against if they move pucks, and teams have to adjust and that's what creates defensive breakdowns and offensive opportunities so I think our pace is good when we're a puck moving team and if we move our feet,” explained Swan. “At times when we didn't do that then we started to let the other team create that momentum so when we did move pucks I think that's a staple that we've got to grab on to and that's a positive.”
The Pontiacs continued to pour it on, scoring just two and a half minutes into the second period. Ryan Piche would snap a shot from hash marks to give Bonnyville the lead back.
This tally was the first of three in the frame. The other goals came from captain Ryan Symington and Jared Power on the power play. The Pontiacs led 4-1 at the halfway point of the second and held that lead into the intermission. The shot counter showed they Pontiacs were controlling the game by outshooting the Bobcats 21-5.
The third period started out with another Bonnyville goal from Marrocco, his second of the game to push the lead to four.
This was when the play started to get rough. A few big hits and jabs after the whistle lead to a fight from Piche. This fight gave the Bobcats some energy; they scored two quick goals to close the lead to two. At this point Swan called a time out.
Swan said he told the team during this break, “let's not complicate things for ourselves let's make sure it's on our stick and off our stick. We were starting to extend our shifts a little bit and our energy was not where it needed to be so a couple of things is it's short shifts so that we can maintain hard intense shifts and let's not try and skate pucks let's move pucks because that's what's been working for us, so that was more of a regroup on focusing on what was working well.”
After this time out Bonnyville got back to that style of play and scored to make the final 6-3.
“It's good to start out with a win to open the season obviously, I think the boys rallied together and we all came together for it,” said Symington.
“It was a bit sloppy at times, but I think for the basic part there was lots of good plays that got us on the scoreboard and at the end of the day I think that's what helped us. For sure there for the first game it went pretty well,” added Piche.
Pontiacs tame Bobcats in game two
Bonnyville travelled to Lloydminster's barn for game two of the home and home series.
The long-time rivalry was apparent as both teams were fired up, with the Pontiacs looking for their second win in as many nights and the Bobcats fighting for their first.
Starting out with a goal from the Bobcats, Bonnyville remained down for the duration of the first period.
It wasn't until the end of the second that the pace finally changed for the Pontiacs
Carter Rhine got the momentum going with a goal at the 14:53 mark in the period.
Tied 1-1 to start the final frame, Bonnyville fought hard for the win. Two unanswered goals from Josh Borynec, Ryan Piche, combined with a short-handed empty net tally off of Chad Hurtubise secured the Pontiacs 4-1 victory.
The Pontiacs will be at home for their next two games on Sept. 20 versus the Fort McMurray Oil Barons and Sept. 21 against the Spruce Grove Saints. Puck drop for both games is 7:30 p.m.
