The St. Paul Jr. B Canadiens are sitting directly in the middle of the NEAJBHL standings, following an impressive win at home on Friday night against the top team in the league, the Wainwright Bisons, followed by an overtime loss on the road against the league’s newest team, the Lac La Biche Clippers, Sunday night.
On Friday, the Jr. B Canadiens hit the ice strong at the Clancy Richard Arena, with a goal by Tyrell Bourk at the one-minute mark in the first period. Alexander Astasiewicz and Braydon Burak took the assists on the goal.
Later in the same period, Keaton Gordon would give the Canadiens a 2-0 lead, with an assist from Zach Bendall.
The Bisons would try to even out the score in the second period, with a goal early in the period. But, after a list of penalties were handed out on both sides at the 6:51 mark, Canadiens’ captain Dyson Roy would fire back with a goal of his own, assisted by Astasiewicz, to put the score at 3-1.
The Bisons would push ahead, scoring just a few minutes later. The score would remain at 3-2, heading into the third.
While the third period saw some more physical contact between the two teams, both goalies managed to stop the shots being fired at them. Canadiens’ goalie Michael Davis had 30 saves on 32 shots, and Bisons’ goalie Austin Prior made 50 saves on 53 shots.
“Friday was a great team effort with goaltending, and we competed all night for 60 minutes,” said head coach Joe Young.
Two nights later, when the team travelled to Lac La Biche, Young felt differently about the team’s effort.
“In Lac La Biche, it wasn’t a great effort on our part. (There was) no emotion, intensity.” Young said he was “extremely disappointed with the effort, considering we beat the best team in the league, Friday.”
Young said changes in the way things happen away from the rink will be happening, and if players don’t buy in, they won’t be playing for the organization anymore.
“We have high standards considering how we, as a group, have turned things around the last six years,” says Young.
On Sunday night, it was the Clippers that opened up scoring in the first period. In the second, the Canadiens tied the score with a goal by Nicholas Klassen. But, the Clippers pushed hard and scored two more goals before the period closed.
The score was 3-1 heading into the third.
In the third, Arron Gagne would score early for St. Paul on the power play. But, the Clippers would push ahead, with another goal.
The Canadiens didn’t let the game go, and netted three unanswered goals to even out the score. Brodin Ference scored first, followed by Roy, and Astasiewicz scored the third goal to give the Canadiens the lead for the first time in the game.
With the score sitting at 5-4 for St. Paul, a Canadiens’ roughing penalty would put the Clippers on the power play, and the home team would take advantage, tying the game at 5-5, and pushing it to overtime.
At 4:19, the Clippers would score the game-winning goal.
St. Paul’s next home game is scheduled for Nov. 17 against the Frog Lake T-Birds. The game is set for 8 p.m.
