The Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs lost 3-2 in overtime and won 3-2 in a shootout last week. Not surprisingly, the loss came on the road, while the win came at home.
The Pontiacs have a remarkable 18-2-1 record when playing in the friendly confines Bonnyville's R. J. Lalonde Arena. However, games played beyond town limits are a toss-up, with the Pontiacs winning just over half the contests, maintaining a mediocre 10-9-4 record on the road this season.
The statistics held true again this week, as Bonnyville lost in Sherwood Park to the Crusaders in O.T. Jan. 11, before unloading nearly 50 shots on net in Saturday's shootout victory at home over the Calgary Canucks.
“I really liked our players' response (Saturday). I think their intentions were much better and they are going to have to be heading down the stretch run,” said Pontiacs head coach and general manager Chad Mercier, following Saturday's 3-2 win over Calgary.
“We're looking for all our guys to elevate their level of play. The time for learning is over, we have to put it into action and I think (Saturday) was a good example of that,” he added.
“Now we have to start bringing it on the road. We're 18-2-1 at home and I don't like seeing our group of guys underachieve on the road. When you have the home record we do, we should be better on the road than we are. I know we have it in us, it's just a conscious choice we have to make every night.”
Mercier said picking up three of a possible four points this week was definitely needed, but giving up the extra point to Sherwood Park last Wednesday was a hard pill to swallow.
“We need to find ways to win games like this,” said Mercier, following the loss to Sherwood Park. “These are points we cannot afford to give up.”
Though the Crusaders have played three more games than the Pontiacs, the extra point picked up by Sherwood Park last Wednesday, along with an 8-1-1 record over its past 10 games, has vaulted the Crusaders into third place in the AJHL's North Division with 64 points, one point ahead of the Lloydminster Bobcats and three points ahead of the Pontiacs.
Missing out on the extra point versus the Crusaders made Saturday's game against Calgary even more crucial for the Pontiacs.
After giving up a two-goal lead to the Crusaders in Sherwood Park and eventually losing in overtime, Mercier put out a challenge to his team to be better the next time they stepped on the ice.
And Saturday in Bonnyville the Pontiacs seemed to have that drive to win back in their game.
The first period of Saturday's game was even in the play and in the score, as the teams came out of the frame tied 1-1, with defenceman Zach Beisel picking up the Pontiacs first goal on the power play seven and a half minutes in.
Defenceman Blake Leask scored Bonnyville's second goal in the middle portion of the second period. Forward Ryan Kearns assisted on the power play marker, for his second assist on the night.
The Canucks responded halfway through the third, tying the game at 2-2.
The Pontiacs turned up the tempo in overtime, throwing six shots on net, during the three-on-three battle. But they couldn't beat Canucks goalie Michael Matyas, who made nearly 50 saves on the night.
Both goalies stood on their head through the first three rounds of the shootout, with Pontiacs goalie Dylan Wells making three stellar stops on the three Calgary shooters.
Then the game fell on defenceman Jordon Krankowsky, who said following the win, he was looking for redemption in the shootout after being on the ice for the Canucks tying goal.
Krankowsky, the Pontiacs fourth shooter, skated in with speed, made a move to his right and pulled back to his left, sliding the puck through the goalie's five hole for the go-ahead goal.
“I was about to throw out a big celebration when I scored,” said Krankowsky. “But I remembered Wells still had one more stop to make.”
The Pontiacs number one goalie came up big, stopping the Canucks fourth shooter, only to be mobbed by his teammates moments later.
“To win like that really bumps the guys' morale up a bit,” said Krankowsky, following the shootout win. “We've had our struggles of late but I think when you bear down and keep with it, like we did (Saturday), we will find that success.”
Krankowsky, who picked up his seventh goal and 24th point this season in Sherwood Park last Wednesday and is one of the longest serving Pontiacs having played over 200 games with the franchise in four seasons, said the path to success is a simple one but it will take a lot of hard work to get there.
“I guess I've been here a while when they start calling me grandpa,” he said laughing. “But the message stays the same. We can't take a practice off, or a game off, or a shift off. We need to bear down and put the work in. But more than that we need to turn our words into actions and make it happen.”
