The Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs overcame a horrendous start in Game 2 on Saturday and fought their way back to a series-tying 4-2 victory.
The Spruce Grove Saints took advantage of a flat-footed Pontiacs squad in the earl going of the game, pummeling the Bonnyville goal with rubber.
Parker MacKay continued his torrid scoring pace notching his eighth goal of the playoffs and third goal of the series at the 3:51 mark of the opening frame.
The Saints kept up the dominance and by the midway mark of the period had a 14-3 lead in the shot column.
“I thought that our start was awful. It was unacceptable for our group,” said Bonnyville head coach and GM Rick Swan. “The guys have to understand that they are in the North Division Final and that their preparation has to reflect the importance of the game.”
Bonnyville got some life thanks to a shorthanded goal off the stick of defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk. After Ryan Symington won the faceoff, the young defenseman snuck a quick wrist shot five hole on Saints netminder Matthew Murray.
“That was a huge goal. It brought us back into the game,” said Pontiacs defenseman Braiden Doucette.
The goal sparked the Pontiacs who broke through three minutes later thanks to a melee of penalties resulting from Spruce Grove's Travis McEvoy hammering Bonnyville's Cody Fiala into the sideboards. McEvoy was subsequently tossed for tripping and checking from behind.
Twenty seconds into the powerplay Steen Pasichnuk found a streaking Mitch Fritz crossing the Saints blueline. The Minnesota native walked in and roofed a wrist shot past the glove hand of Murray to give Bonnyville a 2-1 lead.
Spruce Gove continued to pummel Bonnyville netminder Troy Trombley as the game wore on, firing 27 shots on goal in the games first 40 minutes. The stellar play from the Pontiacs netminder held Bonnyville in the game and allowed them to extend their lead late in the frame.
With the seconds ticking down in the period a loose puck found the stick of a speedy Dillan McCombie. A nice move around a Saints defender had McCombie clear in on goal, a quick shot fake pulled the goalie to the right at which point McCombie tossed the puck to an open Kyler Hehn at the left side of the goal for an easy tap in.
The goal came with nine seconds left in the middle period and gave Bonnyville a 3-1 lead heading into the break.
The final period was a back and forth frame with both sides generating their fair share of chances.
Spruce Grove's Riley Simpson made the Bonnyville fans in attendance nervous just 3:54 into the third when he beat Trombley to bring the Saints within a goal.
The Saints continued to throw everything they had at the Pontiacs, pulling Murray with just under three minutes left and mounting a ton of offensive pressure.
Bonnyville weathered the storm and sealed the deal thanks to an empty net goal from McCombie with 56 seconds remaining.
“I think the team came back and had the right response,” said Doucette post game. “We wanted to come in here and get the split.”
A series-tying win is exactly what they Pontiacs were able to muster after losing the opening game 4-1 in Friday night.
“You never want to get to negative about a loss because you have to get right back at it the next day,” said Swan of Game 1.
“We feel we are playing the game that we need to play. A very simple, very physical game and relying on great goaltending to move forward,” Swan added.
“We are right where we wanted to be. We wanted to have a split (in the first two games) coming back into our barn. Now we'll see what happens.”
Game 3 and 4 will go in Bonnyville on Monday and Tuesday night with the series guaranteed to shift back to Spruce Grove for Game 5 on Friday.
