COLD LAKE - The Cold Lake Ice took to the ice Friday in a game against the St. Paul Canadians, in a tight fought 4-2 loss.
Playing at home, Cold Lake initially looked very much in charge of the game, with Kamden Brunet scoring the only goal early in the first period, assisted by Bryce Harrison and Jared Cadieux. The Canadians dominated the rest of the period, Cold Lake only escaping with the lead due to an exceptional performance by goaltender Mark Peddle.
Despite taking over in the first half of the second period, St. Paul only took control in the latter part of the frame, with a goal from Isaak Watters. Just over a minute later his teammate Matthew McDonald scored for the lead. The final goal of the frame came from Bryce Coutney to come away with a 3-1 lead at the end of the second.
Not to be put to the side, Cold Lake scored early in the third at the hands of Christian Foisy, from Jager Fontaine and Brunet. The rest of the period was back and forth action with neither team scoring until St. Paul potted one with just over a minute left, Watters’ second of the game.
Cold Lake goaltender Mark Peddle stopped 28 of 32 for a .875 save percentage, while Canadians goalie Sebastien Culham stopped 26 of 28 for a .928 save percentage.
Killam Wheat Kings
On Saturday the Ice also played at home, this time against the Killam Wheat Kings. Their response to the Friday night loss was exceptional, as they posted a 7-3 win over the Wheat Kings, who are ahead of them in the standings.
Cold Lake flew out of the gate, scoring twice in the first five minutes. The first was by Josh Butt, assisted by Carter Breen and Mason Franz. Breen then scored the second goal unassisted. They scored twice more in the first, as Harrison put one in, assisted by Brett Gascoigne and Fontaine. The last goal was on the power play, as Xandar Ray scored from the blue line.
Gascoigne and Fontaine once again got the assists. The Wheat Kings attempted a comeback in the second, as Adam Child scored 10 minutes in. This was quickly shut down by the Ice as Fontaine scored, assisted by Franz and Harrison. These were overshadowed by a large scrum ensuing with seven seconds left in the frame, six penalties being given out and the bad blood brewing.
Cold Lake continued their strong performance in the third, as Franz scored, assisted by Breen and Riley Pollard. Pollard then went on to score a power play goal, assisted by Cadieux and Foisy.
Killam scored twice before the period ended, both by Rhett Bergseth.
Penalties were given out like Halloween candy throughout the game, a whopping 26 were called as tensions were high throughout. Of these, six were 10 minute misconducts and one game misconduct.
Ice goaltender Peddle played well once again, stopping 28 of 31 shots for a .903 save percentage. Wheat Kings goalies split the game, with Ty Djos stopping 11 of 15 in the first period for a . 733 save percentage and his counterpart Kailum Grove taking over the last 40 minutes, stopping 17 of 20 for a .850 save percentage.
The win and loss moved the Ice to a 3-8-0 record on the season. They are sitting in sixth place out of eight teams in the North Eastern Alberta Junior B Hockey League standings. The Canadians are first, with an 8-2-0 record, while the Wheat Kings are now in fourth, standing at 6-3-1.
