The Saddle Lake Warriors defeated the Titans from Thorhild Saturday evening and extended the team's lead to four points ahead of rivals St. Paul, who lost three straight over the weekend in the North Eastern Alberta Junior B Hockey League.
Saddle Lake faced a tough battle with league leaders Cold Lake on Friday as the home side quickly put pressure on the Warriors by scoring seven goals in the first period. Cold Lake won 11 - 3. Warriors' goals came from Cody Arcand, Cole Steinhauer and Jared Cunningham.
The Canadiens had a night to forget on Friday as the team was pounded 15 - 0 by the Vegreville Rangers. A shorthanded goal by Vegreville's Jonan Lopusinski with just under 10 minutes gone in the first period started the onslaught. The Habs were heavily outshot throughout the game as the Rangers tacked on three more in the second and another seven to finish the game.
Brushing off the loss to Cold Lake, the Warriors used the home ice to advantage Saturday night to beat Thorhild 6 - 2, closing the gap to one between the two sides in the standings. Cunningham put Saddle Lake ahead four minutes in and Arcand added another before the Titans answered. Warriors defenseman Dusty Iron extended the lead again on the powerplay before Thorhild's Jacob Boychuk pulled one back to end the first.
Second period goals from Cunningham and Dough Morin put the Warriors in a comfy spot heading into the third and a shorthanded marker from Myles Baptiste solidified the victory.
The Habs traveled to Vermilion Saturday night and again experienced another tough loss to the Tigers. After a close first period, the teams went into the dressing room tied 1 – 1. St. Paul's goal came courtesy of Skyler Giroux, his 12th of the season. The Tigers took the lead in the second by scoring four goals and added another three more in the third period to win the game.
St. Paul capped off their dismal weekend with a 10 – 0 loss to the Bandits in Lloydminster on Sunday night, practically eliminating them from playoff contention with only a few games remaining.
“The game on Saturday wasn’t that bad,” Habs coach Tony Meger said. “It could have been a lot worse. We still have our breakdowns. Vermilion is not a team that should beat us that bad. We’re not impressed with them. They play hard, but their skill level is not up to the other teams.”
Having only 11 skaters for each game contributed heavily to the losses, Meger added. However, he is proud of his players and the amount of effort they put in, despite the lopsided scorelines.
The Habs travel to Vegreville Wednesday night to play the Rangers while Saddle Lake heads to Killam to tussle the Wheat Kings on Friday. Both the Canadiens and Warriors are home Saturday night to play Cold Lake and Vermilion, respectively.
