Four powerplay goals propelled the Fort McMurray Oil Barons to two wins over the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs on the weekend.
The Pontiacs found themselves on the penalty kill 15 times over the course of their two games in Fort McMurray, while the hometown Oil Barons were shorthanded just three times.
The large difference in penalties was the reason why the Pontiacs lost 5-0 on Saturday night, after a close back-and-forth 3-2 shootout loss the night before.
On Friday, after going down 2-0 early in the second period at the hands of John Teets and Ryan Bloom, the Pontiacs got some life.
Newcomer Michael Iovanna scored his first as a member of the Pontiacs at 9:37 of the second period.
Then, midway through the third, a solo effort by Steen Pasichnuk tied the game 2-2.
The Oil Barons Mitchell Vanderlaan scored the shootout winner in the fourth round to pick up the teams 28th win of the season.
The Pontiacs are now 14-19-4 and sit just two points back of both the Grande Prairie Storm and Sherwood Park Crusaders.
Those Crusaders are in Bonnyville on Wednesday to tangle with the Pontiacs.
Three unanswered goals in the third period propelled the Lloydminster Bobcats to a 6-3 victory over the Bonnyville Pontiacs on Dec. 10 at the RJ Lalonde arena.
The Pontiacs jumped out to fast a start in the third period, as Ryan Black scored just 46 seconds in to tie the game 3-3.
A Dan Wedman hooking penalty gave the Bobcats the life they needed to retake the lead. Linden Springer potted his second goal of the game a 3:28 of the third to make it 4-3.
The game quickly got rough as every stoppage of play resulted in a scrum and a few penalties.
The Pontiacs took a huge blow at 7:34 of the period when Grant Baker clipped Jackson Dudley knee-on-knee in the neutral zone. Baker was assessed a minor for kneeing and Dudley didn't play a single shift after the play.
Bonnyville head coach and GM Rick Swan had a lengthy discussion with the officials after the game about the hit. The team is unsure how bad the knee injury is at this time.
Swan liked the response of his team in the third period, but felt it came way too late.
“I thought in the third period that we responded the right way,” said Swan. “It is unfortunate in a game of this importance that we didn't come out and start the game that way. It took us to the third period to really get going and to respond to what the magnification of the game meant.”
