It was a rough week for the Bonnyville Pontiacs.
The team dropped two games at home, to the Spruce Grove Saints and Fort McMurray Oil Barons, before closing out the week with a 5-4 road loss to the Whitecourt Wolverines.
Saints continue dominance
A mistake-filled second period cost the Pontiacs their third loss to the Saints this season.
In their first game since the holiday break, the Pontiacs welcomed the Saints for a north division matchup Tuesday, Jan. 2.
The first place Saints opened the scoring just two-minutes into the game, when Tyson Gruninger beat Pontiacs goaltender Justin Travis.
Late in the first, Lucas Thorne made the most of a powerplay opportunity. Thorne picked up his seventh goal of the season, with assists going to Adam Sandstrom and Bekkam Willis, bringing the score to 1-1.
In the second period, the contest opened up, with back-to-back goals from the Saints putting the Pontiacs behind 3-1.
“We always talk about consistency and playing for 60-minutes. You can't play for 49 or 51-minutes, this was no different. We didn't play a full 60-minutes, and this is the result you're going to get against the first place team in the AJHL,” said Pontiacs head coach Rick Swan.
The Pontiacs would draw closer in the third, when Garin Butler scored. With less than two-minutes to go, the comeback bid was foiled by Saints forward Cam Mitchell, and the Pontiacs fell 4-2.
Barons overwhelm Pontiacs
Despite a strong start the Pontiacs were unable to take down the Fort McMurray Oil Barons.
On Friday, Jan. 5, the Pontiacs welcomed the second place team in the north division to the R.J. Lalonde arena.
It was all Pontiacs early in the first period, with Brendan Morrow opening the scoring just 52-seconds into the game. Less than five-minutes later, Lucas Thorne extended the lead to 2-0.
“I thought we came out strong with those two quick goals. We kind of backed up a little too much after that, and we weren't really able to come back strong,” said Pontiacs forward Bobby Young.
Before the period was out, the Barons had tied the game with back-to-back goals. First, it was Reed Morison that beat Pontiacs goaltender Sandro Silvestre, before Will Conley tied it up with less than a minute left.
In the second, a costly mistake on an otherwise strong powerplay turned the tides in favour of the Barons.
“I loved our start, but I think we got a little bit external. As human beings, it's easy for us to point fingers at others when they make mistakes. We started to worry about things we couldn't control and allowed them to get back in the game,” detailed Swan “I really think their third goal was a game changer for us. That came as we were playing well on the powerplay.”
From there, the team was unable to recover, giving up three unanswered goals in the third and falling for the second game in a row, this time by a score of 6-2.
After hanging in for two periods with one of the top teams in the league, only to fall short, the young group left the ice frustrated and once again focused on consistency.
“We have to make sure each and every person starting with the head coach is better for tomorrow, because we're tired of going through incomplete games. We have to understand if we want to get through this, it's going to take a 23 man effort in the locker room and a three man effort from the coaching staff,” Swan expressed.
Wild loss in Whitecourt
The Pontiacs put their loss to the Barons behind them and hit the road for a matchup with the Whitecourt Wolverines on Saturday, Jan. 6.
It was a disastrous start with an unrelenting Wolverine attack opening up a 4-0 lead.
A large deficit wouldn't deter the Pontiacs, who pushed back in the second period. First, Adam Panacci got Bonnyville on the board four-minutes in.
One minute later, Kash Rasmussen finished a play set-up by Isaac Saniga and Lucas Thorne, bringing the Pontiacs within two. Late in the period, they would cut the deficit further, when Adam Sandstrom scored on a pass from Bruce MacGregor. Captain Charlie Gawlicki picked up a secondary assist on the play.
Just 34-seconds into the third, Brendan Morrow completed the comeback, tying the game at 4-4.
The two teams battled it out down the stretch, but it was the Wolverines who would strike the deciding blow. With 10-minutes to go, Motley buried his second goal of the game, and the Pontiacs were unable to recover.
With the 5-4 loss, the Pontiacs move to 13-20-7, and sit in sixth in the Viterra AJHL north division.
