Steenn Pasichnuk's first career hat-trick provided the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs with all the offense they needed to get past the visiting Drayton Valley Thunder on Sunday afternoon.
“It is my first one and probably my last one,” said Pasichnuk of the feat. “My coaches have always told me to go to the net and every goal I've scored is up in front of the net and from going hard to the net. It feels pretty good.”
Pasichnuk scored twice in the second period and again in the third to pace Bonnyville to a 4-1 victory over the Thunder.
The hulking forward, who stands 6'4”, 206 pounds, got the scoring started after crashing the net and banging home a juicy rebound just 17 seconds into the middle period.
After an equalizing goal from Drayton Valley's Troy Rapuano at 6:01, Pasichnuk was at it again. The Bonnyville native drove hard to the goal and took four whacks at a loose puck before finally banging it past Thunder net minder Marc Oliver Daigle.
The goal would go down as a short-handed marker, as Bobby McMann was in the box for high sticking.
Pasichnuk capped off the hat-trick at the 8:40 mark of the third period, cashing in on the rebound of a Cody Fiala wrist shot. The goal, Pasichnuk's eighth of the season, would come with Rapuano in the box giving him a power play marker to go alongside a short-handed goal and an even-strength goal.
“What a monster of a game from Steenn. He easily could have had five goals today,” said Bonnyville Head Coach Rick Swan. “He was very physical. He was just a rock star tonight. No question he was the best player on the ice.”
His performance was all the Pontiacs needed to skate to victory, as they were able to hold the Thunder to just 24 shots and go 9-for-9 on the penalty kill.
An empty net goal by Dillan McCombie sealed the Pontiacs 18th win of the season.
The victory was much needed for a Pontiacs squad that found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-2 loss to the Whitecourt Wolverines the night before.
“Our coaches always say (the mark of) a good team is (about) how you respond from a bad loss and we responded today,” said Pasichnuk. “Everyone battled hard right from the drop of the puck. We were physical. We were winning draws. We were battling. It is good when you can get a team effort like that.”
Inconsistent officiating was the story on Saturday night at the RJ Lalonde Arena, as the Pontiacs and Wolverines hooked up in a heating, chippy affair.
Whitecourt, aided by several non-calls from the referee, found themselves up two after 20 minutes of play. Romano Morrison opened the scoring at 5:42 and Joseph Nardi cashed in on the power play at 19:29 of the first to put the visitors in front.
Bonnyville's best chance of the period came at the midway point of the frame when forward Dillan McCombie popped loose on a break away. After being slashed and hooked on his way up the ice McCombie lost control of the puck and was unable to regain control in time to get a shot on goal. No penalty was called on the play.
The non-call was on par with how the weekend went for the Pontiacs, with the officiating all over the place. This lead to frustration among Bonnyville players, which saw McCombie, Pasichnuk, Warmington and Hehn all receive misconducts for yapping at the officials.
“You could certainly see with those ten-minute misconducts that we were saying the wrong things at the wrong times and we have to learn from that,” said Swan. “We have to focus on what we can control and get rid of any obstructions that are uncontrollables and allow frustration to occur.”
Newly acquired defensemen Cody Fiala gave the home side a glimmer of hope at 9:13 of the second when he squeaked a wrist shot through the five hole of Wolverines goalie Jared Rathjen. The goal got the Pontiacs back within one, trailing 2-1.
It also saw the momentum shift, allowing the Pontiacs to pin the Wolverines in the offensive zone for minutes at a time. The pressure got to the visitors and saw Justin Young and Kellan Cornelis take minor penalties less than two minutes apart.
The 5-on-3 man advantage gave the Pontiacs the scoring chance they needed, before the officials intervened.
With Bonnyville's power play well underway the puck was thrown in on Rathjen. The net minder waved at a high puck knocking it down into a pile of players at the goal mouth. The puck eventually found itself on the stick of Steenn Pasichnuk who slid it past an unsuspecting Rathjen.
While many in the building thought the Pontiacs had tied the game, the referee saw it differently. The goal was waved off with the official saying the puck had been knocked down with a high stick.
Seconds later, with Bonnyville still on the man-advantage, Whitecourt's Trace Elson found a loose puck in the neutral zone and broke away on a two-on-one with Nardi. A nifty passing play resulted in Nardi beating Bonnyville goaltender Troy Trombley to put the visitors up 3-1.
The goal, combined with the disallowed Bonnyville goal, ended up being the turning point in the contest, as the Pontiacs could not mount a comeback. Another Fiala goal at 16:21 of the third period was all they could muster, dropping the game 3-2.
This week will be a busy one for the Pontiacs as they travel up to Grande Prairie on Jan 13. then head down to Whitecourt on Jan. 14 before returning home on Jan. 17 to face the Fort McMurray Oil Barons.
