The St. Paul Jr. B Canadiens kept two points at home on Jan. 18 as the team battled against the lower-ranked Lloydminster Bandits at the Clancy Richard Arena.
While the Canadiens held on to the lead throughout the night, the score remained fairly close. St. Paul Canadiens' Lane Wycotte scored the first goal of the night on the power play, assisted by Brayden Goulet and Zach Bendall.
Then, Alex Astasiewicz scored a second power play goal, assisted by Dyson Roy and Orrie Wood, to give the Canadiens a 2-0 lead. But just as the first period was coming to an end, the Bandits would respond with their own power play goal.
In the second period, there was little scoring taking place, until Astasiewicz score his second of the night, unassisted, just before the end of the period.
A goal from Wood early in the third period gave the Canadiens a more comfortable lead, but a push by the Bandits resulted in two goals from Lloydminster, and a final score of 4-3 to end the game. Goalie Hayden Lyons helped the Canadiens secure the win.
The first and third periods of the game included a long list of penalties for both teams, as things got rough. A number of game misconducts were handed out by the referees, with players on both sides leaving the ice.
The next night, the Canadiens travelled to Wainwright to take on the top team in the league. While the Canadiens fought throughout the night, the team wracked up more penalties than goals, and lost the contest by a score of 6-0.
The two Canadiens' goalies split time on the ice, with Brenden Williams taking the official loss.
The Canadiens will play in Killam this weekend, on Jan. 26, followed by a rescheduled game against the Vegreville Rangers on Jan. 29 at 8:35 p.m. at the Clancy Richard Arena. After that, the Canadiens will have three away games before coming back to the Clancy Richard Arena on Feb. 9 for a rematch against the Bandits, and the last home game of the regular season, according to the NEAJBHL schedule.
The Canadiens currently sit in fourth place in the nine-team league.
