By: Terry Martin
After getting the word late Thursday, the Spruce Grove Saints once again battled the Drayton Valley Thunder tonight at the Grant Fuhr Arena. The Saints looked to find their way back into the win column after two straight loses last weekend to the Thunder.
The Saints would be the ones to score first and second as Brett Pfoh would tally those markers. Pfoh would pick up his own rebound after getting a pass from Gamache in the slot. Pfoh would then go on a shorthanded break down the wall and score short side on Thunder goalie Eric Ward. The teams would really ramp up their hatred towards each other near the end of the period, getting in more and more scrums. Saints would lead at the end of the period 2-0 and edge out the Thunder in shots 16-11.
The Saints would continue their dominance on the penalty kill, Caiden Gault would score a beautiful goal to bring the Saints lead to 3-0. The Saints power play would also cash in as Liam Watkins scored on a rebound to bump up the lead to 4-0. The Saints wouldn’t be done there, Jake Aston would go down the ice on a 2-on-1 and rip the puck blocker side to give the Saints a 5-0 lead. The Saints would get two more power play goals from Rochford and Benincasa to end the period leading 7-0. After 40 minutes the Saints would lead in shots 36-20.
The Saints continue to be relentless, scoring just 41 seconds into the period as Brophy Dunne would blast the puck home from the point. There would also be 5 more penalties in this period, bringing the total to 18 power plays between both teams. The Saints would go on to win 8-0 as Tyler Palmer picks up his first AJHL shutout. Final shots after 60 minutes were in the Saints favour, 47-33.
The Saints and Thunder will be back at it again tomorrow night in Drayton Valley for a 7pm start, the Saints now lead this cohort series 3-2.
Saints fans can catch all the action on the Saints Radio Network (mixlr.com/sprucegrovesaints), and on HockeyTV starting at 6:45pm.