Yaks Favourite “Muise” Shines in 2-1 Win Over Saints

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The Yaks crease is safe and secure, although netminder Colby Muise has a coach who was reminded of his old job as a cop last night.

“I may have wanted to arrest Colby Muise for stealing the show so to speak,” joked Rick Swan.

The Bonnyville Pontiacs avenged their recent loss against the Spruce Grove Saints with a 2-1 victory at the RJ Lalonde.

Coach Rick Swan says they wouldn’t have gotten the two points without goaltender Colby Muise’s 34 save  showing and strong penalty killing.

“Our special teams was the difference in that game. The guys that were on those units played exceptionally well with a lot of sacrifice and a lot of pace and a lot of urgency. But your special teams aren’t great unless you have your MVP, the guy in the net.”

Pontiacs forward Marc-Antoine Benoit protects the puck against Spruce Grove captain TJ Lloyd.

The theme of the young Pontiacs season so far was strong starts, but the roles were reversed as the Saints piled 16 shots on Muise in the first period, despite being level 1-1.

“It was just almost overwhelming. It was not indicative of where we’ve been the last few games. But we finished a little stronger, although with adversity for the whole game, I think the penalties created a sense of urgency in our game. In our second and third periods we were able to limit the shots, and play with urgency with our penalty kill,” said Swan.

“Now we have to find a way as a coaching staff to have those great starts but have the finishes like we did, minus the penalties in last night’s game.”

Daine Dubios’ goal with not three minutes gone in the second period stood up as the gamewinner.

The win moves the Pontiacs to first atop the AJHL North Division at 8-2 through ten games.

“We’re still not where we need to be at the ten game segment, which is maybe a positive for our group because we know we have a long ways to go. But we plan on going a long ways.”

The Yaks have a difficult stretch in front of them. They go to Lloydminster to play the Bobcats Friday night, before embarking on a five game, seven day road trip to the South Division.