Yaks take the Weekend against the Thunder

Special teams & the power play were key to the win.

Photo Credit: @bpontiacsjra Debra Kaban

The Bonnyville Jr A Pontiacs have taken the double-header weekend against the Drayton Valley Thunder with a 5-2 win at the RJ Lalonde Arena on Saturday evening. Assistant coach for the Jr A Pontiacs says it was the special teams and the power play that shone and won the game.

“Late in the first period we gave up a short-handed goal and we were down 1-0 after the first,” Jensen says  the first period goal from  DV’s Tyler Benko got the pistons burning in the Pontiacs as they headed out for the second. “The second and third seemed to click. The guys were making some nice passes and we scored some really nice goals off the power play.” Derek Brown  got the tie at 12:18 in the second from Brandon Whistle; but it wasn’t long before Drayton Valley put up a goal from Austin Friesen. The go-ahead was short-lived as  Jake Gresh tied it up for the Yaks at 17:51 off the power play, from Whistle and Brown.

The third was all about the Pontiacs, veteran line of Whistle, Brown and Ryan Symington opened the scoring at 5:55. Brown and Whistle  continued to mesh well with a power play goal at 12:58 (Alden Dupuis would get a point off the goal for the co-assist). Brendan Holterhus would secure a healthy lead and close the game with a power play goal at 18:04 from Zach Aston and PJ Marrocco, to end the game 5-2 for the Pontiacs.

“We acknowledged [Brown and Whistle] for being our leaders, When we’re going to be our best our leaders need to contribute offensively and defensively.They did it at both ends of the ice, tonight and tallied on the points,” both players had a four point evening, says Jensen. “It’s nice to see them come into their own, they’ve been working hard since the beginning of the season and now things are starting to go their way.”

The Pontiacs will meet the Sherwood Park Crusaders for a 7:30 game on Wednesday at the RJ Lalonde. Assistant Coach Jensen says there’s a heated rivalry between the two organizations. “We haven’t seen the crew yet, but we always know what to expect from them. They’ve become one of our biggest rivals over the past couple years. They have some big bodies and some skill; we can’t take them lightly, but we know if we play our best game, we have a good chance to win, every night.” WIN tickets to the match on LCN.