St. Paul takes second Battle of the Lakeland over Cold Lake; series 2-0 in favour of Canadiens

The St. Paul Canadiens rolled into Cold Lake on Saturday evening with one thing in mind, to defeat their NEAJBHL rivals, the Cold Lake Ice and they did just that. In an intense battle, the Habs triumphed over the Ice 5-3 and took a 2-0 lead on the Battle of the Lakeland series.

Head coach for the Canadiens, Corey DeMossaic shines the spotlight on the teams’ leadership, “our leaders really stepped. I challenged them and they came through, so kudos to them.”

Scoreless through the first period, this battle looked more evenly matched than when the two teams met to kick-off the season in September. That game ended with a one-sided 7-1 win for the visiting Canadiens. This time around, the Ice were better prepared. Cold Lake head coach, Scott Hood reflects on the game, “we were ready for them and I think we answered the bell pretty well. We’re a sixth-place team and they’re the best in the league, I thought we gave them all that they could handle.”

The Canadiens are sitting on top of the eight-team Northeast Alberta Junior B Hockey League with an 8-1-1 record. Whereas the Ice are 3-8-0 for the season, thus far.

St. Paul’s Isaak Watters opened the game with a goal in the second. The lead would be short-lived for the visiting team, as the Ice were able to answer back for two of the Canadiens’ goals and take the lead in the second with a 3-2 score in favour of the boys in blue after 40 minutes. The Ice’s momentum was halted in a very physical third period, the Canadiens quickly tied up the game and rookie Jarrett Boulianne snapped in the go-ahead two minutes after. Coach DeMossaic on the 17-year-old, “he’s scored some big goals for us and he’s also played a wonderful game. That’s big for us.”

The Habs took another unanswered goal to finish the 60 with a 5-3 final score.

The Canadiens are taking to the road this week with two-weekday games, Tuesday and Thursday in Onion Lake and Vermilion respectively. DeMossaic said the team will need to stay sharp and not let that top placement get them complacent. “Onion Lake is holding their own and Vermilion is an up-and-coming team. I would say they are on fire and they’re the team to watch.”

As for the Ice, they hosted Lloydminister on Sunday and fell short 5-2. They are hosting Wainwright Saturday night at Imperial Oil Place, puck drop is 7:00 pm.