The Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs wrapped up the regular season with a big 5-4 win over first round playoff opponent Sherwood Park Sunday.
Pontiacs assistant captain Kevin Carthy scored with under a minute remaining to give the Pontiacs another dramatic last-minute victory and some much-needed momentum heading into playoffs this week.
Coming into Sunday's final regular season game in Sherwood Park, the Pontiacs were on a two-game losing streak, having only scored one goal in those two games.
Pontiacs head coach and GM Chad Mercier was not happy with his team's performance in Wednesday's loss to Fort McMurray. His team was arguably worse in their 3-0 loss at home to Camrose Friday.
“I don't think our intentions were good the other nights,” Mercier said following Sunday's win. “I thought tonight our intentions were good. It just took our play a little while to follow.”
Only 10 minutes into the game, the Pontiacs were down 2-0 to Sherwood Park, but gradually their hard work paid off in the form of offensive output.
“It took us a good 10 minutes to get our play going. We got down early, but we fought back. I think we did a tremendous job mentally,” Mercier added.
Carthy scored late in the first to cut the lead to 2-1. Teammate Eric Peterson tied it up late in the second with a quick wrist shot to the short side of the Crusaders netminder.
The game went back and forth late into the third period, where the Pontiacs found themselves tied 4-4 heading into the final minute of play.
Carthy jammed home the winner with 47 seconds remaining and Pontiacs goalie Connor Creech did the rest, standing tall as the Crusaders sent a flurry of shots on net in the final moments.
“I think the big thing tonight was our response. The last two games our focus wasn't where it's supposed to be. Tonight we showed we can play at a high level, like we're used to.”
The first round playoff matchup is set. Bonnyville will face Sherwood Park starting at 7 p.m. Friday night in Bonnyville.
“It's going to be high tempo, very tight, have to be on your toes type of hockey. There will be a lot of skating, these guys like to stretch you out and attack. In my mind it's going to be a very fast paced, entertaining series,” said Mercier.
The Pontiacs are 15 points ahead of the Crusaders in the standings, but Mercier said his team is by no means looking past their first-round opponent. In fact Sherwood Park has given the Pontiacs some trouble this season, winning three of the five matchups.
“We're going to be pushed to our limits in the first round, so we'll have to be ready for the first 10 minutes of game one and we're going to put a lot of preparation in to be that.”
Game 1: Friday in Bonnyville, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Saturday in Bonnyville, 7 p.m.
Game 3: Monday (Feb. 28) in Sherwood Park, 7 p.m.
Game 4 (if necessary): Tuesday (Mar. 1) in Sherwood Park, 7 p.m.
Game 5 (if necessary): Thursday (Mar. 3) in Bonnyville, 7 p.m.
The Pontiacs faced a rash of injuries just prior to the end of the regular season, with Tyler Henry, Marc-Antoine Juneau and Chad Crawford all out of the lineup heading into Sunday's game.
Some good news came Sunday, as Crawford rejoined the lineup. However, Ryan Kearns left Sunday's game with a lower body injury and will be re-evaluated this week.
Henry and Juneau hope to be back in the lineup by the start of playoffs, although both remain questionable.
