The Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs spent the weekend in the winner’s column, collecting four points in two games.
Their first victim was the Brooks Bandits, and after a 4-3 overtime victory on Saturday night, the Pontiacs were confident heading into their matchup against the Camrose Kodiaks on Sunday.
The local boys continued to capitalize on home ice and ended the weekend defeating the Kodiaks 4-1.
“It’s a great four points, and I think coming off of an emotional win against the Brooks Bandits who are number one in Canada and our league, it’s always that high and then there’s that opposite reaction, and that was reflective of our start (Sunday),” head coach Rick Swan told the Nouvelle.
Finding their stride on home ice
The Bandits put up a fight at the R.J. Lalonde Arena on Saturday, Nov. 16, but it wasn’t enough to take home a win.
Starting off the scoring early in the first with a shorthanded goal was Pontiac Jaden York. Ethan Sundar followed suit with a powerplay goal.
Brooks controlled the second period, finding the back of the net twice.
The visiting team broke the 3-2 tie mid-way through the third. Pontiac Marc-Antoine Benoit evened the playing field and added his name to the scoresheet with less than three minutes left in the game.
The game was sent into overtime, but it was short-lived. Benoit found the back of the net just over two minutes in, ending the game 4-3 in Bonnyville’s favour.
“Playing Brooks is pretty special, you always look forward to those types of games where you’re playing the number one team,” said Pontiac goaltender Easton Hesse. “The atmosphere was pretty electric. The energy on the bench was really good too. It was a good battle all-around, and we ended up coming out on top in overtime, which is great.”
Continuing their winning streak
Building off of their win the night before, the Pontiacs hit the ice for their matchup against the Camrose Kodiaks on Sunday afternoon.
A scoreless first period upped the ante heading into the second frame and Bonnyville didn’t let their fans down.
Curtis Hammond snuck one past the Kodiaks’ net minder just shy of three minutes in, followed by a goal from Lucas Thorne.
The Kodiaks found their opportunity during a powerplay, adding a point to the scoreboard.
Bonnyville picked up the pace in the third period when Bruce MacGregor scored back-to-back goals to finish the game 4-1.
“Our first two periods weren’t the best, but we bounced back in the third to close out the game,” exclaimed Hesse. “It’s nice to get the two points, we want to climb in the standings so every point we get is big.”
Swan said, “We didn’t really have that match performance that we did on (Saturday) until the third period.”
According to Swan, the final frame was when the team truly came out of their shell.
“If you watch me on the bench, even in the time outs during the game, I was more heightened emotionally than probably the players, because how do we go from one standard of excellence against the best team in Canada to not having that same consistency,” Swan expressed. “It was really about work and making sure they established a foundation of playing the right way, and in the third period, they did.”
With their next matchup against the Whitecourt Wolverines on Friday, the Pontiacs will be focusing their attention on two major elements: healing and discipline.
“They score on a powerplay goal because we take an undisciplined penalty and we get our sticks up. We have to be better than that, we have to address it, and we’re trying to address it from a coaching perspective, but players have to hold themselves accountable as well, and that’s where our leaders and our veterans come in,” detailed Swan.
Hesse agreed, “We have to be better because the top teams in the league get a chance to score on those, so we have to limit those.”
Over the weekend, the Pontiacs hit the ice at the R.J. Lalonde for back-to-back games against the Wolverines starting on Friday, Nov. 22 and Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m.
