The St. Paul Jr. B Canadiens have done it again. After an exciting game at the Clancy Richard Arena on Friday night against the Wainwright Bisons, the home team managed to keep its perfect season intact with a perfectly timed power play goal in the third period, giving the Canadiens a 5-4 win.
“It was two good teams going at it,” said Canadiens’ coach Joe Young, following the game. In the end, it came down to who wanted the win the most, and “we dug a little deeper.”
Although the Canadiens were happy to continue their perfect season, Young says the game was also important because they had yet to face the Bisons – the second ranked team in the league.
St. Paul had a strong night for power play goals, with Ryley Wozniak netting one in the first period, to give the home team the early lead about three minutes into the game.
But, the Bisons would fire back in the second period with a short-handed goal The Canadiens would take their turn to fire back, with a short-handed goal by Elias Chaulk.
But, the Bisons were the next to take advantage of a power play, scoring near the end of the second, and tying the game up at 2-2 heading into an exciting third period.
Wainwright would take the lead for the first time on the night, just 20 seconds into the frame.
When the Bisons scored on the power play to take the lead, “the guys were still upbeat and knew that we had a chance to win the game,” says Young. This mentality is something that is different than years past.
“I think we have a different mentality this year. We have a lot of good leaders in the room.”
The Canadians again came back with captain Zach Sylvestre taking advantage of a power play to tie the game back up at 3-3.
The Bisons fought back though, and yes another power play goal was scored into the Canadiens’ net just past the halfway mark of the third.
But, Friday night was not the night to give up, and the Canadiens’ captain found that net again at the 16:45 mark, tying the game at 4-4.
The crowd at the Clancy Richard erupted in cheers, and it looked like the game could be headed for overtime, but Canadien’s player Zach Bendall put a stop to that with his power play goal. The team kept the puck out of the net for the remaining minute and a half, and celebrated as the buzzer sounded.
The Canadiens are ranked first in the NEAJBHL, with a perfect record.
“I can guarantee every night that we play, against whoever, they’re going to be excited to go up against us and our winning streak,” says Young. But, the coach is also realistic, saying, “We’re not going to go 36-0 this year,” and the streak will eventually come to an end.
The fans appeared to appreciate the Canadiens’ effort on Friday night, with a large turnout, and lots of cheering for the home team.
“It was really nice to see the crowd on Friday. You can feel the buzz. It’s nice walking around town and going to my kid’s games and people area really excited with what we have going on right now . . . at the end of the day, we just want to put on a good show and work hard.”
