Olds, AB – The Whitecourt Wolverines (2-1-1) picked up their first road win of the season Friday night in Olds as they defeated the Grizzly’s 3-2.
For a second consecutive game, it would be the Wolverines opening the scoring as Ben Evanish, playing his first game of the season, one-timed home a pass from Alessio Luciani in front of the Grizzly cage. The score would stay at 1-0 until the final minute of the period, on a two-man advantage the Grizzlys equalized the game as Quentin Greenwood slipped a backhand shot top-shelf after taking a pass from Estian Coetzee in front of the Wolverine net.
The second period saw both team’s trade chances in the first half but neither goalie, Xavier Potvin for the Wolverines and Andrew Henderson for the Grizzlys, would yield a go-ahead goal. After the teams traded penalties near the midway point of the period, Jaedon Leslie was sprung on a breakaway by Stevie Bryant after he was left alone at centre ice at the conclusion of a Wolverine penalty kill, Leslie made a move to his backhand and slid the puck past Henderson to restore the lead.
Both goaltenders continued to shine through the third period as the score remained 2-1 until the final two minutes. With just over 90 seconds to play in regulation, Evanish scored his second goal of the night after collecting a puck off the end wall and lifting it over Henderson to increase the Wolverine’s lead to 3-1. The Grizzlys responded with a goal of their own from Ryley Smith in the final 30 seconds but it wouldn’t be enough as the Wolverines skated away with their second straight win.
The Wolverines are back in action Saturday night at 7 p.m. when they head to Camrose to battle the Kodiaks (2-0-1).
Notes: The Wolverines traded ’99 D Ryan Straschnitzky to the Humboldt Broncos earlier in the day to complete last year’s trade for Morgan Messenger…’00 F Hayden Clayton joined the team in Olds but did not suit up…Due to injury the Wolverines were forced to dress just five defenceman on Friday night…’98 F Ben Evanish returned to the Wolverines lineup after missing all of training camp, the preseason and the team’s first three regular season games due to injury.
Scoring Summary
1st Period:
WCT Goal – 9:18 – Ben Evanish(1) from Alessio Luciani (EV)
OG Goal – 19:28 – Quentin Greenwood(1) from Estian Coetzee and Kabe Bleay (PP)
2nd Period:
WCT Goal – 12:41 – Jaedon Leslie(1) from Stevie Bryant (EV)
3rd Period:
WCT Goal – 18:17 – Ben Evanish(2) from Caden Benson and Alessio Luciani (EV)
OG Goal – 19:39 – Ryley Smith(1) from Spencer McHardy and Jared Bowman (PP)
Shots – WCT 23 (7-9-7) OG 28 (10-12-6)
Power plays – WCT 0/5 DV 2/7
Goalies:
WCT – Xavier Potvin 26sv/28sh (2-1-1)
OG – Andrew Henderson 20sv/23sh (0-1-0)
Three Star Selection:
1. WCT-Ben Evanish (2g, GWG)
2. WCT-Xavier Potvin (26sv, W)
3. OG-Quentin Greenwood (1g)
Hardest Working Wolverines: Alessio Luciani (2a) and Spencer Augot.
Recap presented by:
