It was a tale of two hot teams colliding in Bonnyville Tuesday night, as the Jr. A Pontiacs, winners of four straight at home, clashed with rival Lloydminster Bobcats, winners of eight straight overall.
Bonnyville could not keep up with the streaking Bobcats for much of the game, but the Pontiacs managed to kill several key penalties. They relied on the stellar goaltending of Dylan Wells, who stopped 33 of 34 shots, including three in the shootout, as the Pontiacs pulled out the 2-1 shootout win over the Bobcats.
Wells, in his first season with the Pontiacs, said he already has a feel for the rivalry between the two teams.
"The rivalry with Lloyd has already sunk in 100 per cent. I feel it whenever they come into this barn," he said. "It was just an out of this world experience to get the shootout win."
Pontiacs head coach and general manager Chad Mercier said Lloyd was the better team out of the gate, but commended his goalie for standing strong.
"I think they were by far the best team in the first period. We didn't come with that emotion or energy. We started to get it going but ran into lots of penalty trouble in the second and third and when you do that you're going to need that good goaltending."
The Pontiacs successfully killed off 10 penalties on the night, thanks in large part to the play of Wells, who picked up the game star.
Pontiacs forward Paul Lamoureux potted his second goal of the year to open the scoring. Lamoureux took a pass from Tanner Dusyk and made a slick move to get the goalie out of position before sliding the puck into the open net.
The Bobcats responded with one minute left in the first period to tie the game up.
The Pontiacs killed off another penalty in overtime and the game moved into a shootout.
Pontiacs leading scorer Tommy Barszcz was the first to shoot. He skated in with speed, faked out the goalie and roofed it.
Wells said he knew it was over.
"As soon as Barzey scored, I was feeling pretty good. I figured two more saves, nothing to it."
Bonnyville lost two players to injuries Tuesday. Forwards Dante Borrelli and Paul Lamoureux both left the game with undisclosed injuries and will be re-evaluated this week. Defenceman Blake Leask and forward Jake Towriss both suffered injuries this past Friday and have sat out the past two games.
The Pontiacs will now head on the road for a pair of games this weekend. Bonnyville will take on Drayton Valley Friday, before facing off against the Sherwood Park Crusaders Saturday.
The Pontiacs next home action is Oct. 26, when they welcome the Crusaders to town. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
