Whitecourt, AB – The Whitecourt Wolverines (24-10-5) earned a second straight win as they fended off a comeback attempt by the Bonnyville Pontiacs (13-20-7) on Saturday night.
The Wolverines picked up right where they left off from the night before when they scored seven times in Drayton Valley. After 20 minutes of play at the Scott Safety Centre they had a commanding 4-0 lead over the visiting Pontiacs. Jaedon Leslie started the scoring as he converted a cross-crease pass from Estian Coetzee just 3:24 into the frame. The lead went to 2-0 at the 10:55 mark; Spencer Bast tucked a puck past Pontiac’s starting goalie Sandro Silvestre on a power play. Just over six minutes later, Liam Motley scored his first of two on the night as he and Brayden Labant teamed up for a two-on-one give and go play on another power play and then just 19 seconds later, Coetzee capped the first period scoring onslaught with a great individual effort speeding around a defender and from in tight lifting a shot top-shelf short-side on Silvestre ending the goalie’s night after giving up four goals on 10 shots.
While the first period belonged to the Wolverines, the second period was all Pontiacs. They began on the comeback trail 4:30 into the middle stanza with Adam Panacci busting to the net and putting a backhand over Wolverine goalie Xavier Potvin. 50 seconds later they found themselves within two goals; Kash Rasmussen sifted a shot through a crowd from the high-slot and into the back of the net. Before the period was out, the Pontiacs would get within a goal as defenceman Adam Sandstrom banked a pinballing puck into the net off of Potvin with 4:32 left in the period.
The Pontiacs carried their momentum into the third period as Brendan Morrow slipped a puck home just 34 seconds in, leveling the score at 4-4. The Wolverines finally got back on their game after the tying goal as they tested Pontiac relief netminder Justin Travis a number of times and they would finally breakthrough with just under 10 minutes to play in the game as Motley wired in a wristshot from the right-wing circle. Late in the game, the Pontiacs had a chance to tie as their leading scorer Derek Brown found himself in alone on Potvin, but the veteran Wolverine goalie came up with his biggest save of the game preserving the 5-4 win.
The Wolverines are back in action Tuesday night as they welcome the Lloydminster Bobcats (15-23-2) to the Scott Safety Centre for the first time this year at 7:30 p.m.
Scoring Summary
1st Period:
WCT Goal – 3:24 – Jaedon Leslie(11) from Estian Coetzee and Spencer Bast (EV)
WCT Goal – 10:55 – Spencer Bast(9) from Estian Coetzee and Noah Tooke (PP)
WCT Goal – 16:59 – Liam Motley(16) from Brayden Labant and Chase Haygarth (PP)
WCT Goal – 17:18 – Estian Coetzee(17) from Spencer Bast and Spencer Augot (EV)
2nd Period:
BP Goal – 4:30 – Adam Panacci(4) from Nicholas Ormon and Adam Sandstrom (EV)
BP Goal – 5:20 – Kash Rasmussen(4) from Isaac Saniga and Lucas Thorne (EV)
BP Goal – 15:28 – Adam Sandstrom(5) from Bruce MacGregor and Charlie Gawlicki (EV)
3rd Period:
BP Goal – 0:34 – Brendan Morrow(3) from Bobby Young and Bekkam Willis (EV)
WCT Goal – 10:11 – Liam Motley(17) from Brayden Labant and Chase Haygarth (EV)
Shots – WCT 26 (11-8-17) BP 32 (9-12-11)
Power plays – WCT 2/3 BP 0/2
Goalies:
WCT – Xavier Potvin (18-8-4) 28sv/32sh
BP – Sandro Silvestre (10-13-7) 6sv/10sh (17:18), Justin Travis (4-6-0) 25sv/26sh (41:32)
Three Star Selection:
1. WCT-Liam Motley
2. WCT-Spencer Bast
3. BP-Justin Travis
Hardest Working Wolverine: Brayden Labant.
Recap presented by:
