Cole Gammer's second goal of the game less than a minute into overtime led the visiting Sherwood Park Crusaders to a 4-3 overtime victory over the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs on Tuesday night.
Cole Gammer's second goal of the game less than a minute into overtime led the visiting Sherwood Park Crusaders to a 4-3 overtime victory over the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs on Tuesday night.
It was another tough loss for the Pontiacs, as they dominated Sherwood Park throughout the game, outshooting the visitors 43-21.
"I thought that we responded well in the sense that when we did get behind we keep coming back and we never did give up," said Bonnyville head coach and GM Rick Swan.
"That is the sign of a good team and that is the difference between this years team and last year's team, is that our guys won't accept being behind. They will continue to claw back."
After a solid first period, in which they held the Crusaders to just five shots, Bonnyville slipped up in the final minutes of the frame.
With 1:21 left in the opening period a Dane Phaneuf point shot slid five-hole on Pontiac goaltender Joey Desrosiers to give Sherwood Park the one-goal advantage.
"We just have to keep looking forward," said Pontiac Steenn Pasichnuk in the first intermission. "We are outshooting them 9-5. They are a pretty physical team, and they obviously got the first one on us there. We just have to look past that and just keep going."
Bonnyville bounced back quickly in the second period with forward Adam Wilson depositing a Ryan Black point shot into the back of the net to tie the game. The goal, just 3:19 into the second, was Wilson's first in the AJHL.
After controlling the play for the first half of the second period, an embarrassing miscue cost the Pontiacs the lead.
With just over a minute gone in a Bonnyville man-advantage, Crusaders defenseman Ben Sowa dumped the puck in on goal. Desrosiers and several Pontiacs players got their signals crossed and before they knew it the puck was in the back of the net.
"That is one of the ones that I think is ever goaltender's nightmare to allow something like that to happen," said Swan. "There is nobody that feels worse than Joey."
Desrosiers didn't let the "nightmare" goal rattle his confidence as he came back with several nice saves in the following minutes.
With 1:44 left on the clock Bonnyville broke down the ice with speed. Forward Ryan Piche threw a shot on goal and Brady Bakke banged the rebound home to tie the game.
Ryan Black added an assist on the goal, which was his ninth point in his last four games. The hot-streak lead him to be named the AJHL's Player of the Week from Sept. 22 to Sept. 28.
"I have been working my bag a lot myself. I have also got to give a lot of credit to my teammates, setting each other up. It really isn't about me. It is more a team effort," said Black.
"I've been getting my shots through, there have been rebounds and guys have been burying them all day long."
The tie didn't last long. Just 25 seconds into the third period Sherwood Park crashed the Pontiacs goal. A Cole Gammer shot beat Desrosier to put the Crusaders back in front 3-2.
Five minutes later, with Bonnyville controlling all of the momentum, a Dane Phaneuf interference call gave them the opportunity needed to tie the game.
Bonnyville's powerplay, clicking at a league-leading 33 per cent, didn't take long to even the score.
A minute in to the man-advantage the Pontiacs entered the Crusaders zone with speed. Kyler Hehn found Luke Mahura speeding down the right wing, who went in on goal and ripped it past Sherwood Park keeper Zac Klassen.
The rest of the period solved nothing and the teams tied a three went to a fourth frame. The three-on-three overtime period was over quickly. After a Pontiacs rush up the ice the Crusaders took the puck back, busted up the ice and ended the game.
The lone point allowed the Pontiacs to finish the month of September in third place in the AJHL's North Division with a 5-2-2 record.
Bonnyville will look for their sixth win of the season when they travel to Drayton Valley for a pair of games with the Thunder on Oct. 3 and 4.
"I think we will see exactly the same team as we saw tonight. They are a team that makes you earn everything you get, with great goaltending as well. With practice we will get a little more emphasis and focus on that (second forward's) presence."
