After an upsetting 6-5 overtime loss against the Crusaders, in front of the home crowd, on Friday evening, the Pontiacs took it to the road and finally slayed Sherwood Park, for the first time this season. The Crusaders have been the team to beat for the Pontiacs, Assistant Coach Larry Draper says Saturday’s 8-2 win displayed Yaks’ hockey at its finest.

“We felt our boys played start to finish, within the framework of our structure,” explains Draper, “they went out and competed in one-on-one battles throughout the rink and defeated Sherwood Park in a way Sherwood Park has never seen before.” It was 4-1 Pontiacs after the first, thanks to Brinson Pasichnuk,  Chad Hurtubise, Derek Brown, and  Chasetan Braid. Picking up the assists in the first would be, Bobby McMann, Brown , Chandler Klein, Hurtubise, and Alden Dupuis. The Crusaders’ sole goal in the first came off a power play, while  Kyler Hehn looked on for Slashing.

Draper says the club was able to put Friday’s emotional OT loss behind them to respond in a huge way, “we’ve said all year our guys have a ton of character, and they’ve shown that again [Saturday] night. Rick, and I, talked to the boys about staying the course. We feel our foundation is very solid, because of the building blocks that we’ve put forward throughout the year.” The second period was a little quieter with only two goals recorded. Both from the Pontiacs, both on a power play, and both from the House of Pasichnuk. Older brother, and Captain of the team, Steenn lit it up at 9:48 from McMann and Hehn. Younger brother, Brinson recorded his second goal of the evening at 14:05 from Dupuis and Ryan Piche.

It was on the power play, I believe Bob & Brinson had the puck and made some passes, than Bob made some nifty work, fed me the puck, in their zone. for a one-timer. It wasn’t the nicest shot, but it was able to go in! – Captain Steen Pasichnuk #89 Bonnyville Jr A Pontiacs

“Everyone’s feeling good, it was a good bounce-back from the 6-5 overtime loss, that I thought we deserved to win,” Captain Steen Pasichnuk says motivation from the tough loss help the guys ultimately win the game, “all-in-all it was a good effort from the boys.” You can never be too secure when you’re playing the Crusaders, Friday night Sherwood Park closed a 2-0 lead the Pontiacs had after the first, S. Pasichnuk says the team wasn’t going to let that happen again. “They’re a team that can always jump back into it, no matter the score. We said, on the bench, ‘we don’t quit’, we kept pushing at them and going hard. The result turned out well for us.”

In the final 20 minutes of play, Hehn and Dupuis each scored with Brad Bigsby and B. Pasichnuk taking the points on assists. Sherwood Park would put in one more goal before the end of 60, with 13 seconds remaining in the game, it wasn’t enough to make a dent in the Yaks’ stride.

The Pontiacs continue on the road to Drayton Valley for a Family Day game. The Yaks took the Thunder 8-0 when they met on February 10th.