ROUND 2 GAME 2: Saints lead series 2-0.
By: Adam Kulak
What’s better than stealing one game on the road? Stealing BOTH games on the road! After a marathon of a game, the Saints would find a way in Double Overtime to win 4-3 and take a 2-0 series lead over the Bonnyville Pontiacs. No new lineup changes, after last nights 5-2 win, the Saints would go with the same lineup for Game 2. With Matt Davis in net, the Saints would aim to steal the first two games on the road.
The Saints picked up where they left off last night to start the game. The first half of the period they were all over the Pontiacs with sustained zone time and created a lot of shots from prime scoring areas. They outshot the Pontiacs 9-2 to start the game but just couldn’t solve Colby Muise to start this game. However, Bonnyville weathered the storm and the second half of the period would start to go sideways for the Saints. 11 minutes in off a Saints defensive zone turnover, Scott McKenzie would pick the puck up and find Bobby young to put the Pontiacs on the board first. Unfortunately, the Saints would get caught with two minor penalties and the Pontiacs made them pay on both.
First powerplay, Marc-Antoine Benoit would get his first of the series to extend the lead to 2. Just 30 seconds later, Cayden Kraus would capitalize on their second powerplay as Bonnyville would open up for 3 goals in a span of 3 minutes. The Saints wouldn’t quit, they didn’t let what happened deflate them as they continued to play their game. Both teams had 2 opportunities on the powerplay, 2 minutes after Bonnyville’s third goal, the Saints would capitalize on their second powerplay. Logan Ganie would rip a shot top shelf from the right dot to get the Saint son the board going into the second period.
The Saints carry over the momentum that they got from Ganie’s goal into the second and were rewarded for it early. The Saints would strike with 2 quick goals in the first 7 minutes of the period to tie it 3-3. At 6:56, TJ Lloyd would get it on net and Mackenzie Harden would jam the loose puck in on the goal line to pull the Saints within one. Then just 30 seconds later, Dylan Bourlai would tie the game up with his 1st of the series. The Saints wouldn’t make it easy on themselves in the middle frame as they got caught with too many men twice and would also have to kill off a minor late. Bonnyville pushed to get the lead back, they had a lot of controlled zone time and threw a lot at Davis. The Saints blocked a lot of rubber and Davis came up big in net when called upon and was solid, helping the Saints kill off all three to keep the game tied. Shots after 40 minutes were 28-18 for the Saints as they head into the final frame tied 3-3.
There were no goals or penalties in the final 20 minutes, just two teams fighting tooth and nail to try and find the go-ahead goal. Shots were dead even at 8-8, it was a back and forth period the entire 20 minutes. Both Matt Davis and Colby Muise shut the door, there were a few close calls for both teams, but they stood tall in net, getting the game to Overtime. The Saints came out and took it to Bonnyville in the first few minutes of the period. They started fast and tried to end it right away but after that it was the same story as the third period. End to end, chance after chance for both teams, big saves at both ends. No matter what the result would be, this was an amazing game between two great teams battling it out until the end. There were no penalties in the entire 3rd and Overtime period, the refs refused to call anything and just let them play it out. Shots in the period were 11-9 Saints as we would need a second overtime period to decide this game.
After 2 full periods of gutting it out, the final dagger would come just over a minute into the second overtime. Jordan Biro would get the puck behind the net, go for the wrap around and it would bounce off something in front as the Saints finally end it in Double OT to take a 2-0 series lead heading home for Games 3 and 4.
You can catch the Saints in action Monday and Tuesday for Games 3 and 4 back at the Grant Fuhr Arena, puck drop at 7:00 PM.