Coming into the weekend, the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs had lost four straight games and allowed the visiting Grande Prairie Storm to catch them in the standings. Needless to say, the back-to-back games against the Storm Friday and Saturday were of vast importance to the Pontiacs' success this season.
Under the added pressure, the Pontiacs did not waver. In Friday's fight-filled affair, all the Pontiacs came out to play, taking it to the Storm physically and on the scoreboard, winning 3-1. The next night Bonnyville did not relent. In front of a near-packed house, the Pontiacs trounced the Storm by a score of 5-0.
“We knew coming in it would be a huge weekend,” said Pontiacs starting goalie Julien Laplante, who stood on his head against the Storm, stopping 58 of 59 shots in the two games and picking up his sixth shutout of the season Saturday.
Pontiacs head coach Chad Mercier was proud of the way his team stepped up to the challenge this weekend, but feels there is a lot of work to be done in the last month of the season.
“We got out of our skid, we had a good weekend at home, we did a lot of real good things, but we've got to continue to build,” he said.
Friday's game was built up to be an intense, emotional battle, with the Pontiacs losing two games and two key players in those games to questionable acts by Storm players in Grande Prarie last week.
But according to Mercier, the Pontiacs did well to maintain composure, while the Storm took several undisciplined penalties.
“In an adverse environment I thought we did a great job of playing on our toes, being aggressive, yet keeping our emotions in check and finding ways to get the job done.”
The Pontiacs were on a mission the moment they hit the ice Friday. They did not allow a shot in the first six minutes of the game and were rewarded with two power plays early on.
Pontiacs forward Ryan Kearns opened the scoring a minute into the first power play, adding to Bonnyville's early momentum.
Both teams were throwing heavy hits and it seemed like there was pushing and shoving after each whistle.
“We really took it to each other, there is a little hatred going on between the teams. It's a battle and we took it to them,” said Kearns following Friday's game.
Kearns ended up scoring two more goals on the night for his second hat trick of the season. Kearns has taken his game to another level over the past month, noted his coach. Not only has he picked up 12 points since returning from the holiday break, he has also been invaluable for the Pontiacs in all other aspects of the game.
Many of the Pontiacs have stepped their games up in light of their recent string of injuries and losses. Matt Montesano, typically an offensive force, has been playing some of the best two-way hockey on the team and contributed in so many ways to the team's success this weekend, said Mercier.
“I kind of played a different role out there … trying to work hard, take the body and make things happen for our team. It's a fun way to play,” explained Montesano.
Mercier listed most of his team, as he talked about the character his players have showed playing under pressure. “I'll tell you what, we had some unbelievable efforts this weekend,” he said.
With all the heart shown and energy expelled in Friday's affair, it was a wonder how either team could muster anymore Saturday, but they did.
Only moments into Saturday's game, hostilities were renewed, as defenceman Jordon Krankowsky showed no fear, standing toe to toe with the bigger Grande Prairie player, who was trying his best to intimidate the Pontiacs.
The intimidation did not work, as Bonnyville poured on the offence.
Pontiacs forwards Eric Peterson and Levi Ansell each scored on the power play to give the Pontiacs a 2-0 lead early in the first.
Due to the antics and fighting the night before, the league contracted another referee for Saturday's game, and it showed, with 26 penalties being called, and the Pontiacs receiving 10 power play opportunities.
Neither team could capitalize on their chances in the second, despite a 16-shot onslaught by Grande Prairie. Standing in the way of all those shots was Laplante, who also made a miraculous save in the third period, reaching back with his glove and snatching the incoming shot right out of the air just before it crossed the line.
Bonnyville just kept adding to their lead on the power play in the third period. Krankowsky scored on a blast from the point four minutes in, while Devon Kalinski and Austen Hebert followed that up with two goals 13 seconds apart, with less than a minute to go in the game.
The final goals were icing on the cake for the Pontiacs, as they resulted from power plays received after undisciplined penalties by the Storm in the final minutes.
“These were very important games,” said Laplante, following Saturday's win. “They are a rough team, they do what they have to do … but we stepped up and gave it right back to them.”
Pontiacs notes
Forwards Dante Borrelli and Tyler Henry both sat out this weekend with lower body injuries. Borrelli hopes to be skating this week, while Henry will likely be out longer.
Marc-Antoine Juneau injured his leg coming to the aid of teammates during a scrum in the first period of Friday's game. He will be re-evaluated this week.
The Pontiacs head on the road Wednesday to face the Oil Barons. Then both teams return to Bonnyville for a Friday night matchup. The Pontiacs wrap up this week at home Saturday against Lloydminster.
The Pontiacs now sit four points ahead of the Storm and nine points back of Fort McMurray for second in the division.