Heat Trounce Warriors T2 in Romp

The Lakeland Heat defeated the Edmonton Warriors T2 in convincing fashion Sunday afternoon to remain undefeated for the season. The 15-1 romp began with Donovan Bibeau sneaking away on the penalty kill and scoring just three minutes into the contest, before adding a power-play goal five minutes later to complete the special teams tallies.

“We wanted another good start, that first goal is great to start off strong,” said Bibeau.

After Taylor Anshelm and Justin Hodinsky scored thirty seconds apart in the later half of the period, the writing was on the wall – the Heat were going to lay the hurt on the Warriors, who they had already beaten 15-5 in their first matchup of the season.

“They played kind of a loose defence, a house defence, and we recognized that and moved the ball,” said Bibeau.

The Heat started the second period with two players in the box for a full two minute 5-on-3, but killed the penalties with ease. Justin Hodinsky then got called for a cross-check moments later, but the PK responded with another goal, again from Bibeau, who leads the team in both goals and points overall.

“We have very good stick skills on our team, and everyone can move the ball around, everyone can rag the ball, so that penalty kill for us is a big part of our game,” said Justin Hodinsky.

The Heat exposed the slot for the majority of the second and third periods, finding the cutter in the middle of the zone it seemed every time. When the buzzer sounded for the second intermission the scoreboard read 11-0.

Despite the big lead, and big leads yet to come in this regular season, this team’s eyes are not aimed at giving their opponents shellackings in the regular season, but at a larger goal later this spring and into the summer.

“We can’t build bad habits. We gotta keep doing what we’re doing and what we’ve worked on in practice. As we progress through the leagues our ultimate goal is provincials so we need good habits for that when we get there we’re ready to play,” said Hodinsky.

The only sour part of the game was the late Warrior tally with 5:05 left in the contest that broke goaltender Mason Wild’s shutout. There’s no doubt Wild was given great goal support throughout the contest, but was sharp when needed, stopping a couple breakways and standing tall on the penalty kill.

The win moves the Heat to 6-0-1 for the season.

The Heat’s next game is Friday in Bonnyville against the Wainwright Wolfpack. The Heat beat the Wolfpack 24-6 earlier this season – so one could expect the goal horn to be put to use again next weekend.