ST. PAUL - The St. Paul Canadiens have bumped up a spot in the North Eastern Alberta Jr. B Hockey League (NEAJBHL). After a big win against the Killam Wheat Kings on Saturday night at the Clancy Richard Arena, the Canadiens were able to pull ahead in the standings by one point.
The Wainwright Bisons have four points on the Canadiens, and are sitting in first place in the now-six-team league. The Jan. 8 game was St. Paul's first game of the New Year, following a couple weeks off due to the holiday season.
The Saturday night game was back and forth, with the Wheat Kings scoring first less than a minute into the first period. But, the Canadiens would respond a few minutes later with a goal from Isaak Watters, assisted by Nicholas Beaudoin.
The Wheat Kings would take the lead back just a few minutes later, but the Canadiens would respond again in short order with a goal from Liam Boyko on the powerplay, assisted by Watters and Brody Green.
Keeping with the theme of the game, the Wheat Kings would score again, and the Canadiens would respond with an unassisted goal by Martin Lucas.
Heading into the second period with a score of 3-3, it was clearly anyone's game.
With the Canadiens scoring first in the second period, some back and forth action would again keep things close. First, the Canadiens' Tysne Stanski would score, assisted by Beaudoin and Watters, then the Wheat Kings would score to tie things back up at 4-4.
The game-winning goal would come from St. Paul's own Kurtis Labant, unassisted, just past the midway point of the second period.
A scoreless, but action-filled third period, would give the Canadiens the win. A long list of penalties would also be handed out in the third period, with the Wheat Kings taking a few more calls compared to the Canadiens.
With the Lac La Biche Clippers folding part-way through the season, the NEAJBHLwill now be made up of six Junior B level teams. The Bisons are in first place in the league, with the Canadiens close behind in second and the Wheat Kings just a point behind the Canadiens. The Vermilion Tigers are sitting in fourth place, and the Cold Lake Ice are in fifth place. The Clippers were sitting in sixth place in the league, and the Lloydminster Bandits were sitting in last place with just three wins this season.
The Canadiens will play away this weekend, and then will have a busy week after that, playing at home on Jan. 20, in Wainrwright on Jan. 21, and back home on Jan. 22 for a rematch against the Bisons.
