Losing a man didn't stop the Bonnyville Sr. Pontiacs from shutting out the Tofield Satellites 8-0 on home ice in a penalty-riddled contest.
The Sr. Pontiacs won their third straight game at home, bringing up their record to 4-1 after big wins against Big Valley and Slave Lake last month.
Pontiacs forward Levi Ansell was taken to hospital with whiplash following an elbow to the head from Tofield's Joel Tessier almost halfway through the second.
Pontiacs Captain Logan Isley said the questionable hit was executed when Ansell was in a vulnerable position.
“We definitely wanted to win it for him,” Isley said, speaking about Ansell. “You never want to see a friend go down like that.”
He added, “They tried to change the tempo by hitting us but I think we showed a lot of character by keeping our composure by just focusing on our fundamentals and getting the puck in the net.”
Up 2-0 when Ansell was taken off the ice 8:32 into the second, the Pontiacs got their momentum going with a rocket wrist shot by Devon Kalinski to bury the puck in the top shelf. It was his second goal of the night.
Trevor Makaruk started scoring in the third with a beautifully executed power play goal to put the puck past Tofield netminder Christopher Roy. He ripped down the right 3:19 later to sneak one past Roy's glove to add insult to injury, putting the Pontiacs up 5-0.
A minute later Troy Dumais found the back of the net after receiving a well-placed pass from Garett Pulak.
Lucas Isley and Michael Desjarlais scored two goals each in the third to put the game away for the Pontiacs.
“We have so much depth that we can mix and match it doesn't really matter who's out there,” said Isley. “I've never played in a team like this in my life with that much depth, I think that's a big key to our success.”
With the win against Tofield, the Pontiacs are halfway through the home portion of their schedule.
“We got kind of handcuffed this year a little bit, it's only the beginning of November and we're halfway done the home stand, but we'll just go to other teams' barns and hang up a few points there and come out on top. That's the game plan,” Ross noted.
The Sr. Pontiacs will look to keep their momentum going against the South Division Daysland Northstars on Nov. 13. Their next home game is Saturday, Dec. 12 against the Westlock Warriors. Puck drop is at 8 p.m.
