The St. Paul St. Paul Jr. B Canadiens are headed to the second round of the NEAJBHL playoffs after a dominating win in Cold Lake on Sunday night.
The Canadiens started the first round of playoffs at home, dropping the first two games of the series to the Cold Lake Ice, but a revitalized team made a statement over the last four games, winning two games in Cold Lake, followed by a 3-2 win at home on Saturday night at the Clancy Richard Arena. The team sealed the deal in Cold Lake on Sunday with a 4-1 win.
"We got off to a good start. Got a few lucky bounces," said coach Joe Young, when talking about Sunday's game. He said he felt the game went really well for the team, and everyone was doing their job.
"Every line, the chemistry has just been unreal," said Young. "They're playing so well."
And while the last four wins have been a team effort, the team's goalie, Hayden Lyons made some impressive saves on Sunday night in Cold Lake, and has stepped up his game throughout the series.
While he was strong for the team throughout the season, during the playoffs "he's elevated his game. He's been playing outstanding for us," said Young.
And it was no doubt St. Paul dominating throughout the whole evening, Sunday. Captain Dyson Roy scored the first goal of the game in the first period, unassisted. A strong second period saw the Canadiens net three more unanswered goals, the first from Alex Astasiewicz, followed by a goal by Zach Bendall, and one from Isaac Laroque-Wall.
Cold Lake did respond with one goal, but it wasn't enough, and a scoreless third period gave the Canadiens the 4-1 win. Lyons saved 31 of the 32 shots taken on net.
Saturday
On Saturday night in St. Paul, the game was much closer, with Cold Lake scoring first in the first period. St. Paul battled back in the second for two goals and the lead, the first from Brody Green, and the second from Lane Wycotte.
St. Paul extended that lead with a power play goal in the third from Orrie Wood, but Cold Lake scored a goal of their own putting the final score at 3-2 for the Canadiens.
The Canadiens will now take on the Wainwright Bisons in the next round of playoffs. The Bisons have not played any games in the first series, due to the Frog Lake T-Birds not playing past the regular season. A post on the T-Bird's Facebook page noted that due to challenges, the team was forced to give up the playoff series to the Wainwright Bisons.
The organization is working on preparing for the 2019-20 hockey season. A call to the organization was not returned as of the Journal's press deadline.
Looking ahead to the Canadiens' next series, right now the focus is on resting for a few days before getting back on the ice. Games have been scheduled for the Canadiens to play in Wainwright on Friday and Saturday of this week, with the series coming to St. Paul for March 6 and March 8 games.
Elsewhere in the league, the Lac La Biche Clippers and the Killam Wheat Kings will face each other in round two after the Clippers beat the Vermilion Tigers in four straight games, and Killam beat the Lloydminster Bandits 4-1 in the first round.
