A bad first period on Friday night cost the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs a shot at a four-point weekend.
Bonnyville came out of the gate slow on Friday at home against the Spruce Grove Saints and were thumped 5-1. They then bounced back on Sunday afternoon defeating the visiting Drayton Valley Thunder by that same 5-1 score.
“We had net front presence and we had guys going to the net,” said Swan, after Sundays win. “It was just a matter of putting pucks on the net and going to the net. That is a darn good goalie that they have and we fired 47 shots. Any goaltender, when you get net front presence like we did tonight, is going to have trouble.”
December 5 wasn't a night to remember for Bonnyville net minder Joey Desrosiers, who surrendered four goals in just over 17 minutes of action. The fourth goal summed up the type of night Desrosiers was having as the puck hit the post, bounced off his back and trickled into the net.
Bonnyville showed a better effort in the final 40 minutes of Friday night's contest, but were unable to climb out of the early four-goal hole they had dug. Spruce Grove held on for their 24th victory of the season and sit firmly atop the AJHL's North Division.
“We competed hard for 40 minutes. In the second and third we outplayed them,” said newly acquired Pontiac Cody Fiala. “That first 20 minutes Spruce Grove countered on our four costly mistakes.”
Sunday afternoon saw the Pontiacs come in more mentally prepared than Friday night. The team controlled most of the play through the games first 20 minutes and found the back of the net three times.
Veteran forward Dylan McCombie opened the scoring with his 12th of the season at 9:24. Kyler Hehn busted out of the corner toward the goal before finding an open McCombie in front of the Thunder goal. McCombie waited out an outstretched Marc Olivier Daigle and rifled it past him for the games opening goal.
Defensemen Gen Bryshun and Erik Donald both beat Daigle on point shots for their first goals of the 2014-15 season.
“I got the puck on the point and I had a lot more time than I thought. I got my head up and put it home,” said Donald, on the goal. “It was pretty nice to get that first one out of the way.”
The second period saw the game get a little chippy and rough, as the referees called some interesting penalties.
The Pontiacs used a powerplay early in the period to their advantage. Mitch Fritz found a loose puck in the slot, kicked it to his stick and stuffed it past Daigle to put the home side up 4-0.
Drayton Valley's lone goal of the game came after Luke Mahura was sent to the box for holding. Derek Brown got the visitors on the board at 13:36.
The rough stuff came late in the frame when Bonnyville Brinson Pasichnuk and Drayton Valley's Hayden Dawes dropped the mitts. Pasichnuk got away with a double minor for roughing, while Dawes received an instigator, fighting major and game misconduct.
Chad Hurtibise scored his fifth goal of the campaign midway through the third period to seal the Pontiacs 13th win of the season.
“We have got to make sure that we are well prepared for the games coming up. It is all a matter of making sure we stick with the game plan and we challenge our players accordingly,” Swan said.
Bonnyville has five games remaining before the Christmas break. They will travel to Sherwood Park on Wednesday before returning home to take on the Calgary Canucks on Saturday night at the RJ Lalonde Arena.
