It was a 7 p.m. start at home for the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs' third game of the season Sept. 14. They faced off against the unbeaten St. Albert Steel. The Pontiacs got their offence going, scoring six goals, and getting their first win of the season in the process.
The game had a slow pace to start. Shots were 2-2 through 10 minutes of the first period. Then Bonnyville started to turn it on in the second half of the period. They got a few shots through, then finally with five minutes left in the period, Kevin Carthy broke the shutout. He scored on a scramble down low; assisting on the goal were Ryan Kearns and Dante Borrelli.
Bonnyville kept the pressure on, and with one minute left in the period, and a delayed penalty being called on the Steel, Borrelli scored. Kears and Carthy assisted on it, making the game 2-0. Then only 35 seconds later Ty Carey made it 3-0. Assisting on his goal were Jake Towriss and Devon Kalinsky.
The Pontiacs went into the dressing room with a big lead and some confidence in their offence. The shots on goal after the first were 18-7 in favour of the Pontiacs.
The second period definitely did not see as much offensive action, but there was some physical play. About five minutes into the period Kalinsky made a huge hit down low on one of the St. Albert players. Another Steel came to defend his teammate, dropping the gloves with Kalinsky. It was a fairly even fight, but Kalinsky got the game misconduct to go along with his fighting major, so he was thrown out of the game.
St. Albert got one back on their five-minute power play. The period ended with the score at 3-1 and shots at 32-21, both in favour of the Pontiacs.
Bonnyville had a few chances at the start of the third period, but gave a few chances right back to the Steel. Pontiacs goalie Julien Laplante made a huge save four minutes into the period on a Steel player, who got a chance right in the slot. Laplante made another big save on a wrap-around attempt just a minute later.
Then on a Pontiac two-man advantage Matt Montesano put one in from Donnie Harris and Tyler Henry, making it 4-1.
With five minutes left in the period Laplante stood his ground and kept the game close. The Steel got two big chances and Laplante came up big on both attempts. Pontiacs head coach and GM Chad Mercier said his goalie “made some real key saves at some real key times” to maintain their lead.
Leaving nothing to chance, Carey put the game out of reach for good, scoring a goal from Harris and Michael Westfall with three minutes left. Then for good measure, Marc-Antoine Juneau put one in with less than a minute left with an assist from Montesano, making the final score 6-1.
The Pontiacs outshot the Steel 44-31 and Westfall, the Pontiacs captain, said all the shots were the key to victory. “We got bodies to the net and pucks through and that gave us our offence.”
Westfall feels his team has improved each game and has been working hard to get better as a whole. “Our first game we were a little lackadaisical, but our second game I thought (we) were the better team out there, just didn't get rewarded. Then we worked on some things in practice and got it done tonight.”
“Jules (Laplante) is kickin' back there right now for us,” he said, adding that Laplante is keeping them in each game.
Mercier said his team gave another solid effort tonight and got rewarded for it. “With 40 plus shots again tonight…our power play and penalty kill got going…we're happy with the win; we'll take it and move forward from here.”
The Pontiacs got their second win of the season just three nights later, when they beat the Sherwood Park Crusaders by a score of 4-1. Mercier was happy with another “strong team effort” on Friday, which he said was the key to victory when you are playing an undefeated team, as the Crusaders were heading into the game.
“We took a bit to get going,” said Mercier. But as the game wore on, the Pontiacs' strong play was too much for the Crusaders.
The Pontiacs have improved their play in many areas of the game, including their play on the man advantage. “The last two games we've done a much better job on our powerplay…by simplifying things a bit.” The Pontiacs scored on 50 per cent of their opportunities, going 3-6 on the man advantage Friday night.
The team has also been getting a lot of shots on net. The Pontiacs outshot the Crusaders 47-18, making it three straight games the Pontiacs have got over 40 shots on net.
The shots-on-goal, Mercier said, “are a good indicator of our work ethic…it's a positive thing from our side.”
The Pontiacs play their next game Tuesday night at home against the Fort McMurray Oil Barons. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
