Overtime Weekend: Pontiacs Push Back, Earn Split in Two Extra-Time Battles

When you get two straight nights of overtime hockey in Bonnyville, you don’t just feel it — you live it. The R.J. Lalonde was buzzing all weekend, and I sat down with Head Coach Chad Mercier to walk through a pair of games that pushed his group to the edge, tested their resilience and, in his own words, “showed exactly where we’re growing and where we still need to sharpen up.”

Friday OT Heartbreaker vs Whitecourt — Wolverines 2, Pontiacs 1 (OT)

Friday night felt like a duel between two goaltenders refusing to blink. The Wolverines came in hungry; the Pontiacs matched them stride for stride.

Whitecourt struck first on the powerplay at 15:34, but just sixty seconds later, Mathis Lussier answered back, burying his 15th of the season off a feed from Schulha — a moment that Coach Mercier told me “showed our bench we weren’t going anywhere.”

From there it was trench warfare. No scoring in the second or third, despite waves of Wolverines pressure. Bonnyville leaned heavily on Brenden Budd, who turned aside 41 of 43 shots. Mercier described Budd’s performance simply: “He gave us every chance. That’s all you can ask.”

Overtime, though, was unforgiving. At 3:30, Whitecourt’s Tucker found enough daylight to end it.

“Losing in OT stings because you’re right there,” Mercier said. “But it also tells you you’re capable of more — and the guys felt that right away.”

And that feeling carried into Saturday.

Saturday OT Redemption vs Devon Xtreme — Pontiacs 5, Devon 4 (OT)

If Friday was a goaltending duel, Saturday was a track meet.

The Pontiacs exploded early — Pendy at 2:46, Lussier again at 17:00 — grabbing a 2–0 lead with authority. Mercier smiled when I asked about that start.
“That’s the identity we want,” he said. “Fast, on top of teams, making them chase.”

Devon punched back in the second with a powerplay marker, but Bonnyville’s Costantino had already extended the lead to 3–0 earlier in the frame. Still, if you’ve watched enough AJHL hockey, you know a three-goal cushion never feels like a guarantee — and Saturday proved it.

The third period? Chaos. Devon scored at 0:29, Bonnyville responded at 3:55 through Lussier’s 17th, then Devon struck twice more in rapid succession to take a 4–4 tie halfway through the frame.

Mercier didn’t sugarcoat that swing:
“We lost our detail for a stretch. You give any team time and space in this league, they’ll make you pay. But what mattered was how we answered.”

That answer came in overtime.

At 4:25, Daniil Shushkov jumped on a feed from Kinniburgh and Costantino, burying the winner and snapping the weekend in Bonnyville’s favour.

Mercier nodded when I asked about Shushkov:
“He’s been pushing, he’s been competing — that’s a kid earning his moment.”

 

 

Why This Overtime Weekend Matters

Two games. Two overtimes. One point gained Friday, two earned Saturday. But the story is bigger than the standings.

What struck me listening to Coach Mercier wasn’t frustration — it was conviction.

“We’re building something,” he told me. “You can see it in how they respond. They want to win for each other.”

And if you were in the building this weekend, you felt it too. A young lineup showing grit in the trenches. Goalies standing tall. Leaders producing. Depth stepping up. A team learning how to win tight games — and how to bounce back when they slip away.

Overtime weekends don’t just test your stamina. They reveal your backbone.

Bonnyville showed theirs.