Yaks host Sherwood Park Crusaders after weekend sweep against Storm

Austin Saint scored a hat-trick and Matt Hennessey turned aside 33 of 35 shots as the Bonnyville Pontiacs beat the Grande Prairie Storm 6-2 on Saturday night, their second win in consecutive nights against the lowly North Division foe. 

Only eight players in the entire AJHL now have more goals than Austin Saint this season who has lit the lamp 14 times in 26 games. 

On Friday, the Yaks scored two goals within seven seconds from Ethan Sundar and Alex Atwill to get a 2-0 lead before two minutes had been played and never looked back with a solid 4-1 win. 

Brent Hoshowski played his first AJHL game with the Pontiacs on Saturday as injuries to Sundar and Matteo Giampa left the Yaks shorthanded. Hoshowski looked pretty good in his first ever contest and nearly scored if it weren’t for a toe save from Storm goaltender Aidan Feddema. He has 7 points in 14 games this season with the U18AAA Lloyd Bobcats. 

“It’s unreal. It feels so good to get that out of the way. More to come and I felt really good and so I can’t complain,” said Hoshowski, who got the call mid-afternoon Saturday to make his first game. “It took some stress off. I had to get here and there was less things to worry about. In that way, yes, but sometimes it’s better to know sooner,” he said laughing.

Heading into the Pontiacs matchup against the Sherwood Park Crusaders, Bonnyville is now 17-6-3 and 3rd in the AJHL North with 37 points. That’s seven clear of 4th place Drayton Valley, and five behind Fort McMurray for 2nd. 

Hoping for a couple of healthy bodies to return on the offensive side of the puck, defenceman Will Hilfiker will also rejoin the lineup Wednesday after a two-game suspension for his hit on Dragons captain Myles Hillman.

Forward Sebastian Tamburro is now riding a six game point streak. In that stretch, he’s potted three goals and seven assists.

The Yaks host the Sherwood Park Crusaders on Wednesday at 7pm. They travel to play the Camrose Kodiaks for the first time this season on Friday, before hosting the Fort McMurray Oil Barons for a Sunday matinee at 2:00pm.

You can listen to every game live on lakelandconnect.thedev.ca/pontiacs.