MENZIES: Huge home win sees captain Schanbacher the overtime hero

Assistant coach Chad Carder thought captain Jordan Schanbacher was going to score on Friday night. 

“It’s a day late,” joked Carder on the Saturday post-game, who said he was happy to see him come through. 

The Pontiacs leader played a boatload of minutes, and then played hero on Saturday night, as the Yaks completed the comeback to hand the Canmore Eagles a 3-2 loss. 

It’s a crucial split. 

After Friday night where the Pontiacs couldn’t find a way to tie the game, and eventually lost 4-2, Bonnyville needed a win to avoid a season sweep to the AJHL’s top south team thus far. 

Knowing they could play with them after two close losses, the Yaks found a way in one of the more intense and wild games in recent memory. 

Trailing 2-0 at the second intermission, the Pontiacs got goals from Porter Byrd-Leitner and Bronson Ross to equalize the game. 

Moments into overtime, Cody Butikis made a terrific desperation save to keep the game alive. 

That set up a board battle in the Yaks d-zone, Myles Gauld fending it ahead to Byrd-Leitner, who saw Schanbacher streaking in all alone. 

Top corner, no mistake. 

The AJHL Play of the Week gave the Pontiacs a confidence inspiring win. 

Winning goal

Youth vs experience

“I thought we were playing a good game, we had two breakdowns, one on the PK and one of the forecheck that led to a breakaway. I thought we stuck to our gameplan. Guys didn’t quit, and we found a way,” said Carder.  

That sticktoitiveness is something that maybe a few weeks ago would be lacking. 

But playing a familiar opponent, a team you played three times in just three weeks, breeds contempt and in Bonnyville’s case – belief. 

It didn’t come easy though. 

Friday night’s affair saw them fall behind 2-0, but respond with a Myles Gauld goal. 

Facing the league’s top netminder in Hudson Sedo, (6-0 heading in), the Pontiacs were robbed on multiple occasions by the standout goaltender. 

Canmore’s style of shooting it out of their zone, slow controlled breakouts, and myriad of icings and stretch plays was figured out. 

Head coach Ayrton Nikkel decided to sit right back at times on the forecheck, frustrating the Eagles on Saturday. 

Both teams were playing shorthanded too. On the same shift Friday, Yaks’ second leading point earner Christophe Lussier careened into the end boards and didn’t return on the weekend. Neither did the banged up 20-year-old veteran defender Jaren Brinson for Canmore, who recently returned to injury, and tumbled to the ice awkwardly untouched. 

The Eagles veteran team of eight 20-year-olds and 19-year-olds trumped the Pontiacs in terms of game-played experience. 

The Pontiacs youthful skill and belief shone through in the end. 

The critical point of the game was a full two-minute, 5-on-3 penalty kill for Bonnyville, that saw the player who was hit from behind for Canmore, Owen Jones, receive a 10-minute misconduct for saying a word you can’t say. (A five game suspension potentially awaits). 

Then a flurry on powerplays in the 3rd period came Bonnyville’s way. On seven attempts, they did get one, and needed it desperately. 

But Canmore’s bench got another bench minor. One of the linesmen quit during the game. 

It was a heightened, playoff-like atmosphere. Made all the better for fans, as they left the RJ happy with the two points. 

“It gives us a little more confidence going into the week. There’s stuff we definitely have to clean up. I thought our d-zone started to look better. I thought we cleaned it up for the most part.” 

Just two games over two weeks

Funnily enough, the Pontiacs never led in the season series, but this two points puts them back in 4th in the North. 

But expect that to change over the next couple of weeks, because the Pontiacs will be largely idle. 

They play just two games over the next two weeks, including the league’s 1st place team in the Grande Prairie Storm, who come to town on Saturday night. 

On Friday, Nov. 15, the Yaks visit the Drayton Valley Thunder for their first head-to-head this season. 

The Pontiacs already have three games in hand on Lloydminster, and one game in hand on Fort McMurray, who they are bracketed by in the standings. 

The Oil Barons are on a four game road trip this week, while the Bobcats play twice.

Notes:

• Lynden Hanvold made his return to the Yaks’ blueline on Friday, and was thrust back in playing a ton of minutes in each game. The blueline is getting healthier with Alex Coventry hoped to come back in the next two weeks.
• It’s forward that Bonnyville is short on right now. With Borovinskiy getting dealt, the Meiklejohn injury, and now Lussier, younger players will get an opportunity to make an impact.
• The Pontiacs record now at the RJ Lalonde Arena is 4-2.
• Although the Pontiacs special teams came up big, work is still needed to be done. The powerplay is 11th at 13.9% and the penalty kill is 10th at 76.3%.
• Ryley Budd made his first Junior A start as a Pontiac on Friday, and it’s easy to see why the 2008 born goaltender could be a pro one day. He was a second round pick to the Saskatoon Blades and has a myriad of accolades with the Edge School in the CSSHL.
• Hudson Sedo now improved to 7-0 on the season in the Canmore crease. However, the Pontiacs have had the best success against him this year. Whitecourt goaltender Zac Onyskiw in 14 appearances this year has a .944 save percentage.
• Grande Prairie has lost just once in regulation in 16 games, boasting a 13-1-2 record. New head coach Chris Schmidt has them 11 wins away from their total all of last season. They have a goal differential of +34 and will play the Bobcats the night before the Pontiacs.
• Canmore finished the roadtrip on Sunday in Camrose and were shelled 5-0. The Kodiaks with interim head coach Shawn Germain is now 2-1 as the bench boss.

More content?!

Yes! I had the play-by-play voices Wyatt Zieger (Whitecourt), Tim Ellis (Camrose), and Matthew Dekker (Fort McMurray) join me for an extended chat last Friday to discuss the headlines of the AJHL so far.

You can find it here!

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You can listen to every Pontiacs game, all season, on lakelandconnect.net/pontiacs.