By Terry Martin
The Saints took on the Bobcats tonight as they chased their 10th straight victory while also looking to stay atop the Viterra North Division in the AJHL. Spruce Grove has already won 3 out of 4 games against Lloydminster, with their only loss coming in a shootout. The Bobcats have 20 points on the season and sit 6th in the North. Lloydminster was on their own streak, winning 4 of their last 5 games.
The first goal would come from Luigi Benincasa just 27 seconds into the game, tipping in the puck from a Magarrell point shot. Luke Busby would tie the game with his first AJHL goal after a tough bounce off a Saints defender just a couple minutes later. Both teams’ goalies would then make some great saves to keep the game tied going into the 2nd period. Final shots in the period favoured the Saints, just edging out the Bobcats 12-10.
Caiden Gault would continue his hot streak to start the year as he would get his 16th goal on a power play opportunity to open the scoring in the period. Both teams would have a couple chances on their power plays, but the Saints would be the only ones to capitalize on the mana advantage. The score would remain the same and the Saints would outshoot the Bobcats 18-8 in the period.
Ethan Aucoin would score in the third period for the Bobcats to tie the game 2-2 with 8:42 left. Both teams would not score for the rest of the game and this would be the 2nd time this season these teams have taken the game into overtime. This would also be the first time this season the Saints have played overtime at the Grant Fuhr Arena. The Saints would get revenge in the shootout against the Bobcats winning the game 3-2. The Saints goals come from Cade Mason and Luigi Benincasa. Max Beckford would also stop all of the shots he faced in the shootout to help get the win for the team.
The Saints stay perfect at the Grant Fuhr Arena and have now won 10 straight games. The Saints will end their long home stand this weekend with two games against the Okotoks Oilers on Friday and the Brooks Bandits on Saturday.