Two goals by Sean MacTavish, including the game-winner with 17 seconds left in the second period, led the visiting Sherwood Park Crusaders to a 6-2 win over the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs on Dec. 18.
The Crusaders scored three of their six goals by crashing the net and making life miserable for Bonnyville net minder Stephen Klein.
Pontiacs head coach and GM Rick Swan thought Sherwood Park's net presence was a deciding factor in the game.
“They understood that if you get to the net front, put pressure on the net without the puck, you are going to have every opportunity to score and they did that. They scored three goals that way and that was the difference in the hockey game in my mind,” said Swan.
Nicholas Jones, who has committed to playing for Ohio State University next season, opened the scoring six minutes into the game by crashing the net and poking a loose puck past Klein.
Seven minutes later, Colten Meaver scored to open up the Crusaders lead to 2-0.
The momentum shifted to the Pontiacs in the final minutes of the period when Bowen Croft and Andrew Taverner took penalties just 44 second apart, giving Bonnyville a 5-on-3 powerplay for 1:16.
Spencer Foo scored just 13 seconds after the first penalty ended, getting the Pontiacs on the board, sending them into the intermission down 2-1.
“We didn't start the period off right. Our communication wasn't there so play in our defensive zone was bad that period,” said Pontiacs forward Wyatt Noskey in the first intermission.
The teams battled in a close back and forth second period, trading scoring chances throughout. In the dying seconds of the period MacTavish crashed the net and put the Crusaders up 3-1.
“I think we are picking it up as the game goes on,” said Pontiacs defensemen Braiden Doucette, who was playing forward for the night. “We can't give up late ones like that, those break your back and just take away the momentum. We are going to come back out strong to start the third we are not going to give them anything.”
But Bonnyville was unable to mount any sort of offense in the third period. Klein made a few great saves on several Crusaders scoring chances but couldn't hold them off for long.
MacTavish scored his second of the game at 7:15 and Bryar Ortynski added to the lead three minutes later. Halfway through the period, it was 5-1 for the visitors.
The teams traded goals late in the period and the Crusaders capped off a 6-2 road victory.
“It wasn't really indicative of a 6-2 score in my mind,” said Swan. “I thought that they capitalized on a lot of their chances by going to the net hard. That is how you score goals in our league and they were more prepared to do that then we were.”
Bonnyville had six regulars out of the lineup with Jackson Dudley, Mitch Fritz, Brady Bakke, Dallas Mortensen and TJ Cunningham all injured and captain Locke Muller suspended.
The team called up defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk, the younger brother of Steen Pasichnuk, and forward Dylan Stewart to fill in.
Swan thought both players did a great job stepping into the lineup without much knowledge of the system.
“I think that Brinson Pasichnuk is an exceptional player. His offensive instincts are going to allow him to be an exceptional player at our level. What I also like about Brinson is that he has a second, third and fourth effort in terms of his compete. You recognize pretty quickly in this league that becomes an essential skill.”
The Pontiacs have 20 games remaining on the schedule in the New Year with 14 of those games against divisional opponents.
Their first games of the New Year will be Jan. 3 against Drayton Valley and Jan. 4 against Sherwood Park with both games to be played at the RJ Lalonde Arena.
