Newcomer Evan Warmington broke a 2-2-tie midway through the third period to lead the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Calgary Mustangs on Saturday night.
“That's the type of game where afterward when you look in the dressing room you see all 20 guys with sweat on them. They are all a little but bumped and bruised,” said Pontiacs head coach Rick Swan. “If we play teams like we did (tonight) and play for a full 60 minutes of the hockey game then I think we will create a lot of success.”
Warmington, who was acquired from Whitecourt in a deal for Luke Mahura late last week, took a nice feed from Cory Santoro and beat Mustangs goaltender Matthew McDonald at 8:54 of the third to give Bonnyville the lead.
“Our line was working hard all night. We were cycling the puck, getting chances all night and just stuck with it,” said Warmington. “Finally in the third I got a nice pass from Santoro, got a shot on net and it found its way in.”
Having been thwarted through the first two frames the Bonnyville snipers broke through in the third and snuck three goals past McDonald to turn the game around.
A Bobby McMann goal at 8:12 of the final period tied the game 2-2, setting the stage for Warmington to tickle the twine just 42 seconds later.
The offensive outburst was then followed by a little fisticuffs as Brady Bakke and Spencer Johnstone dropped the mitts. Seven seconds later Steenn Pasichnuk decided to answer the call and fight Joe Mahon, the Mustangs 6-foot-6, 230-pound enforcer. Even though Mahon had a couple of inches and over twenty pounds on Pasichnuk, the tough Bonnyville kid was able to get a couple of good shots in and wrestle Mahon down.
“Not that we want our guys fighting, because they are valuable guys, but that is hockey.
“It creates some passion,” said Swan. “I guess there is only so much a player can take before their fuse gets short. They also wanted to create a wolf pack mentality and be strong. If guys challenge them they want to be ready to stand up.”
While the crowd seemed to enjoy the bout, the referees didn't. Both Pasichnuk and Mahon received automatic three game suspensions as the referees viewed the scrap as a staged fight. Kyler Hehn added a late goal with less than four minutes left in the game to extend the lead and Bonnyville cruised to the victory.
The Pontiacs outshot the Mustangs 41 to 16 in the contest, in which they picked up their 14th win of the season. They are now in fifth place in the North Division sitting with a record of 14-13-6. Bonnyville is back in action on Dec. 16 (tonight) in against the Spruce Grove Saints in what will be there final home game before the holiday break. They will then travel to Whitecourt and Drayton Valley on Dec. 19 and 20 to finish up their first half schedule.
