Jr. Canadiens Fall 4–1 to Killam, Smyl Sees Room to Grow

The St. Paul Jr. Canadiens put plenty of rubber on net Friday night at Clancy Richard Arena, but it wasn’t enough to crack a stingy Killam Wheat Kings defence and hot goaltending. Despite outshooting their opponents almost two-to-one, the Canadiens skated off on the wrong end of a 4–1 score.

How It Happened

Killam opened the scoring late in the first when Spencer Koehli buried his first of the season at 16:29. St. Paul responded on the power play midway through the period as Quinn Szpak (#25) pounced on a feed from Tayton Flett and Brody Seymour at 9:10 to tie the game 1–1.

The Wheat Kings regained momentum early in the second, with Carson Olson striking just 1:18 into the frame to make it 2–1. Ethan Allen added insurance at 11:17, stretching the lead to 3–1.

St. Paul pressed hard in the third, but couldn’t find another answer. Killam’s Cade Schatschneider sealed it with an empty-netter at 0:27, capping off the 4–1 final.

Coach’s Take

Head Coach Harvey Smyl admitted the effort was there but the finish wasn’t.

“I thought we had some jump early. Our execution just wasn’t there tonight. Their goaltender played extremely well, and their team played well defensively. We were getting our first chances, but we didn’t get any second and third. We need to be better in those areas.”

Smyl liked some of the offensive push from his group but said the Canadiens need to battle harder around the net.

“There were certain guys who played extremely well for us, creating chances. Offensively I liked the opportunities — I didn’t like our finish, and I didn’t like our battles for second and third chances.”

With nine rookies in the lineup, Smyl stressed that the early-season learning curve is expected.

“It’s not just the rooks, it’s the whole group. I’ve got to learn the kids, how to press their buttons, and they’ve got to learn me. We’re still a work in progress with combinations, power play, penalty kill — the whole works. Defensively, we were really poor in our own zone, scrambling around. That’s something we’ll get better at.”

What’s Next

The Canadiens may have been outscored, but not outshot — a silver lining as they search for their first win. With more chemistry between veterans and rookies and some tightening up in their own end, St. Paul has pieces to build on heading into their next matchup.