Calgary, AB – The Whitecourt Wolverines (19-6-3) dropped a back-and-forth affair 4-3 Saturday night against the Calgary Canucks (13-14-1).
The Wolverines opened the scoring at the 13:52 mark of the first period as Brayden Labant jammed home a loose puck during a goalmouth scramble. The Canucks answered right back less than 90 seconds later with Blake Stevenson steering home a centering pass from Andrew Marshall.
The score stayed tied 1-1 all the way into the second intermission despite the Wolverines firing 18 shots on goal in the middle frame.
The Canucks took their first lead of the game at the 7:33 mark of the third frame as Justin Paarup re-directed a pass between the legs of Wolverine’s goalie Xavier Potvin. The Wolverines continued to throw everything at the Canucks net and were able to get the game back even on a goal from Ben Evanish as he converted a setup from Stevie Bryant from the slot. Just six seconds later the Wolverines had the lead as Canuck’s goalie Erik Gordon mishandled a Ryan Grant dump in following the center ice faceoff. With under two minutes to play in regulation, the Canucks lifted Gordon for an extra attacker and it paid immediate dividends as Mark Drohan snuck in behind the defence and roofed a cross-ice pass to once again level the game with 1:15 to play. The game appeared destined for overtime but with 42 seconds left the Canucks were able to secure the win in regulation following a neutral zone gaffe by the Wolverines Michael Clarke fired home the game-winning goal from the left-wing circle.
The Wolverines are back in action Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. as they pay a visit to the Calgary Mustangs (13-14-2).
Scoring Summary
1st Period:
WCT Goal – 13:52 – Brayden Labant(2) from Esitan Coetzee and Tyr Thompson (EV)
CGY Goal – 15:17 – Blake Stevenson(3) from Andrew Marshall and Josh Giacomin (EV)
2nd Period:
No Scoring
3rd Period:
CGY Goal – 7:33 – Justin Paarup(1) from Noah Williams (EV)
WCT Goal – 13:23 – Ben Evanish(12) from Stevie Bryant and Nathan Reilly (EV)
WCT Goal – 13:29 – Ryan Grant(3) from Jaedon Leslie (EV)
CGY Goal – 18:45 – Mark Drohan(3) from Zach Webb and Chad Varney (EV)
CGY Goal – 19:18 – Michael Clarke(9) from Mark Drohan and Chad Varney (EV)
Shots – WCT 44 (12-18-14) CGY 29 (13-12-4)
Power plays – WCT 0/2 CGY 0/2
Goalies:
WCT – Xavier Potvin (14-5-3) 25sv/29sh
CGY – Erik Gordon (6-4-1) 41sv/44sh
Three Star Selection:
1. CGY-Mark Drohan (1 goal, 1 assist)
2. WCT-Ryan Grant (1 goal)
3. CGY-Michael Clarke (GWG)
Hardest Working Wolverine: Ben Evanish (GWG).
Recap presented by:
