Offense from the defense propelled the Jr. A Pontiacs to a 4-2 victory over the Lloydminster Bobcats in Bonnyville's home opener on Saturday night at the RJ Lalonde Arena.
Pontiacs defensemen and Minnesota natives Sean Mostrom and Ryan Black combined for three powerplay goals and five points in the victory. The two defenseman have scored five of the eight Bonnyville goals this season, as they both scored in Friday night's 4-2 win in Lloydminster.
“It really comes down to all of the screens in front of the net and the forwards getting to where they are suppose to be,” said Mostrom. “It's also good puck movement. I am glad the team got the four points.”
Mostrom opened the scoring Saturday night at 9:39 of the first period, ripping a wrist shot past Bobcats goaltender Devin Green on a 5-on-3 power play.
Minutes later the Pontiacs defensive core suffered a huge loss as Redford Swan was ejected from the game on a checking from behind penalty.
Lloydminster tied the game up minutes into the second period when Tanner Dunkle intercepted an errant pass and slid it past Bonnyville net minder Stephen Klein.
The goal seemed to give Lloydminster momentum as they took the lead at the 12:55 mark of the second period on Dunkle's second goal of the game.
The Bobcats lead was short-lived as they got into penalty trouble and gave the Pontiacs an opportunity to cash in.
Mostrom squeaked a wrist shot past Green at 16:00 to tie the game and give him two goals on the night. Just under three minutes later Mostrom fed a nice past across to Black who blasted one to the back of the net, giving the Pontiacs a 3-2 lead.
“We have been working a lot on the powerplay,” said Black “A lot of what we do is move the puck quickly, we open up lanes and we get shots. We are getting our shots through and they are going in.”
The teams played a close back and forth third period, with Bonnyville holding off a late push from the Bobcats.
An empty net goal by Tommy Barszcz at 19:55 sealed the deal and gave the Pontiacs their second straight 4-2 victory to open up the season.
Bonnyville head coach and GM Rick Swan was happy to see the defense stepping up and contributing in a big way.
“Its fantastic. To be honest with you, that was a real deficiency we had last season, so we specifically wanted to ensure that we could generate more off the point because that is where you are going to be most dangerous,” said Swan.
“Not only are the defensemen shooting the puck through, we've got guys with courage standing in front of the net. Locke Muller, Brady Bakke, guys that are doing the unglamorous work in front of the net to allow those guys to get the shot through. It's a real collective effort that's for sure.”
A bright spot on the Pontiacs roster this season has been Black, who asked to come to training camp with the hope of earning a spot on the roster. Once he made the roster, all he has done since is impress the coaching staff and fans.
“I think he is going to be a special kid in this league, just the way he skates and thinks out there. Ultimately we feel we won one by having him really wanting to come to our organization and really proving himself,” said Swan.
The Pontiacs next game will be Friday Sept. 13 when Bonnyville hosts the Sherwood Park Crusaders at the RJ Lalonde Area.
