For the second week in a row, the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs split a pair of games, winning 5-4 over the Okotoks Oilers at home Nov. 18, before travelling to Spruce Grove to face the first-place Saints the next night and leaving on the short end of a 3-0 score.
Head coach and general manager Chad Mercier said the team looked more structured in Friday's game, after a five-day break from game action, but noted a late game near-collapse against Okotoks showed his team continues to look for consistency within their game.
“I thought early on we were still kind of in our break a little bit, but you could see once we got going, this break did us a lot of good,” he said. “You could see a lot more structure and focus in our game.
“But again, we've kind of fought it all year, where we've been a little bit up and down, not just game to game, but within games. Part of that can be attributed to the guys we have out, but much of it comes from the consistency in the level of effort we bring to the rink everyday.”
Though the team has played inconsistently at times, according to the coaches, they are making progress.
“We have a lot of guys making big jumps this year and making big contributions to the team,” said Mercier. “Our depth is really showing through, but I think we have a lot of room for improvement.”
After scoring only three goals in their previous two games, the Pontiacs jumped out to a big lead over the Oilers Friday.
The Pontiacs nearly doubled the Oilers shot total through the first two periods, throwing 28 on net to the Oilers' 15.
Defenceman Chris Lijdsman opened the scoring with his first goal as a Pontiac five minutes into the first period and only two minutes later forward Dallas Ansell made it 2-0 on his fourth goal of the season.
Defenceman Redford Swan made it 3-0 early in the second period, before Dallas's twin brother Levi made it 4-0 at the 13:32 mark.
After mentioning his desire to notch his first goal of the year in a pre-game interview with “The voice of the Pontiacs” Robb Hunter, Austen Hebert went out and scored what turned out to be the game-winner 1:40 into the third period.
The Pontiacs had complete control of the game for about 45 minutes building up a 5-0 lead, before the Oilers turned it on.
“You have to give a team like that some credit,” said Mercier. “We lost our focus a bit, but they have the fire-power to get on you pretty quick.”
Okotoks scored three goals — all on the powerplay — in a 10-minute span, before adding one more to make it a one-goal game with under four minutes to play. But neither team quit.
After contributing on offence early in the contest, it was Lijdsman again coming up big, making a potentially game-saving play on defence with only a minute to go.
As Okotoks broke in on a two-on-one, Lijdsman laid down his big body and broke up a cross-ice pass, allowing his teammates to get back and clear the zone.
The rugged defenceman said he does whatever he can to contribute to the team's success.
“The boys worked hard tonight. We had a little lapse there, but we fought through it and came out with the W,” he said.
“Whenever I can help things out, or get the boys going, whether it's a goal, a fight, a hit, whatever I need to do, I'm happy to do it,” he added.
Lijdsman commended his teammates, especially Swan, who picked up a goal and two assists on the night.
“We try not to focus on who is out of the lineup, it's the guys in the lineup that are making things happen right now. We have a lot of guys contributing and it's great to see.”
The next night, the Pontiacs again took the play to their opponent, but this time came out on the losing end.
Shots were tied 7-7 after the first period in Spruce Grove and tied 15-15 after the second.
Bonnyville kept the pressure up and out-shot and out-chanced the Saints through much of the third period.
But it was two early goals in the third by Spruce Grove that were the difference, as Saints goalie Brendan Jenssen stood on his head, stopping 29 shots and was rewarded with the shutout.
The Pontiacs continue to play without several key players, due to various injuries, including co-captain Dante Borrelli, Ty Carey, Jake Towriss, Blake Leask and Dillon Currie.
The Pontiacs now face the prospects of a home-and-home series with the Sherwood Park Crusaders this week, with the first of the two games going at the R.J. Lalonde Arena Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The teams will go at it again Friday in Sherwood Park.
