Photo Courtesy: Melissa Baker Photography
Whitecourt, AB – The Whitecourt Wolverines got two goals from Ben Evanish and 31 saves from Xavier Potvin as they shutout the Fort McMurray Oil Barons 2-0 in game four of their North Division Semi-Final series Tuesday night to take a 3-1 series lead.
The Wolverines opened the scoring just under two minutes into the game as Spencer Bast tipped a puck past a pinching Oil Baron defenceman to send Stevie Bryant and Ben Evanish in on a two-on-one rush in which Evanish converted a Bryant pass. The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Wolverines until the late stages of the first period, after the Barons hemmed the Wolverines in their own zone for a lengthy period of time, the Wolverines quickly transitioned to offence with Bast creating a turnover in the Oil Barons zone eventually leading to Evanish batting a rebound out of mid-air and into the net.
The second period saw no goals due to the fine goaltending of Xavier Potvin of the Wolverines and Chris Curr of the Oil Barons. Curr's best save came on Ryan Wallz who appeared to have Curr down and out but somehow the Fort McMurray goalie was able to get a pad on the rookie's offering. Potvin made two tantalizing saves in tight on both Reed Morison and Jordan Roy to keep his team in front by a score of 2-0 heading into the third period.
The Wolverines were able to lock things down in the final frame thanks to 14 more saves turned in by Potvin.
Game five of series goes Friday night at the Casman Centre in Fort McMurray with a 7:30 p.m. opening faceoff.
Whitecourt Wolverines head coach Gord Thibodeau analyzes his team's game four win:
Scoring Summary
1st Period:
WCT Goal – 1:57 – Ben Evanish(5) from Stevie Bryant and Spencer Bast (EV)
WCT Goal – 16:22 – Ben Evanish(6) from Stevie Bryant and Spencer Bast (EV)
2nd Period:
No Scoring
3rd Period:
No Scoring
Shots – WCT 30 (9-10-11) FM 31 (11-6-14)
Power plays – WCT 0/3 FM 0/3
Goalies:
WCT – Xavier Potvin (6-1) 31sv/31sh
FM – Chris Curr (4-3) 28sv/30sh
Three Star Selection:
1. WCT-Xavier Potvin
2. WCT-Ben Evanish
3. FM-Chris Curr
Danali's Handyman and Rental Services Hardest Working Wolverine: Stevie Bryant.
Recap presented by:
