Photo Credit: Melissa Baker Photography
Whitecourt, AB – The Whitecourt Wolverines (27-12-5) piled up the goals for a second straight game as they cruised to an 8-0 win over the visiting Lloydminster Bobcats (16-26-2) on Friday night.
The Wolverines controlled the game from start to finish but only had one goal to show for themselves after 20 minutes of play. Despite several great scoring chances, Jaedon Leslie’s goal at the 8:42 mark of the opening frame, a rebound he batted out of the air, would stand as the only offence in the period.
The lack of finish for the Wolverines ended very early in the second period. In the span of just 47 seconds, the Wolverines turned a 1-0 lead into a 4-0 advantage. First, Tanner Foster roofed a shot over Bobcat’s starting goalie Pierce Diamond’s shoulder from the left-wing circle on a power play at the 2:47 mark. Then, Matthew Monk settled a puck in the right-wing circle and snapped it home and just a short time later, Stevie Bryant stepped over the Bobcat blueline and dipped a puck past Diamond at 3:34 of the middle stanza, mercifully ending Diamond’s night as he faced 11 shots in the opening 3:34 of the period. Affiliate goaltender Jacob Bennett took over and was greeted to the AJHL by Liam Motley, who dangled in and tucked home the Wolverines fifth goal of the night midway through the period. Spencer Bast added a shorthanded goal just over a minute later on a nice setup from Leslie and then Jude Butler fired in a power play goal at 13:32 of the period giving the Wolverines a 7-0 lead heading into the third period.
Ben Evanish capped the scoring on the night as he poked home a rebound after a dazzling rush by Yannik Bertrand less than five minutes into the third period. Xavier Potvin turned aside 19 shots for his league-leading (tied with Mitchel Benson, Brooks Bandits) fourth shutout of the year.
In just our 20th home game of the year, we surpassed last year’s total attendance figure, thank you to our fantastic community and fans for another year of growing support!
The Wolverines are right back in action Saturday night when they welcome the Calgary Mustangs (19-23-4) to town at 7:30 p.m. for the first and only time this year.
Scoring Summary
1st Period:
WCT Goal – 8:42 – Jaedon Leslie(12) from Matthew Monk and Brayden Richards (EV)
2nd Period:
WCT Goal – 2:47 – Tanner Foster(3) from Liam Motley and Tyr Thompson (PP)
WCT Goal – 3:02 – Matthew Monk(3) from Spencer Bast and Brayden Richards (EV)
WCT Goal – 3:34 – Stevie Bryant(10) from Yannik Bertrand and Jake Hobson (EV)
WCT Goal – 9:36 – Liam Motley(19) from Tyr Thompson and Matthew Monk (EV)
WCT Goal – 10:47 – Spencer Bast(13) from Jaedon Leslie (SH)
WCT Goal – 13:32 – Jude Butler(4) from Hayden Clayton and Tanner Foster (PP)
3rd Period:
WCT Goal – 4:42 – Ben Evanish(24) from Yannik Bertrand and Brayden Richards (EV)
Shots – WCT 41 (13-19-9) LLYD 19 (5-6-8)
Power plays – WCT 2/6 LLYD 0/5
Goalies:
WCT – Xavier Potvin (21-9-4) 19sv/19sh
LLYD – Pierce Diamond (7-16-0) 20sv/24sh (23:34), Jacob Bennett (0-0-0) 13sv/17sh (36:26)
Three Star Selection:
1. WCT-Matthew Monk
2. WCT-Tanner Foster
3. WCT-Brayden Richards
Hardest Working Wolverine: Jude Butler.
Recap presented by:
