By Terry Martin
With the first weekend series against the Fort McMurray Oil Barons (5-0-1) ending in a split, your Spruce Grove Saints (4-2-0) look to continue their fight for first place with two games at home this weekend. The puck will drop at 7:00pm on Friday March 19th and on Saturday, March 20th, both at the Grant Fuhr Arena in Spruce Grove.
Game one last week started with a dominate performance by the Saints, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. With less than 2 minutes to go in the third period the Oil Barons would eventually tie the game, leading to overtime. Gamache and Hampton both scored in the shootout and Palmer was sensational in the Saints net, stopping 28/31 in regulation and overtime, then 3/4 in the shootout to get the win for the Saints.
Game two of the weekend was almost the exact opposite of game one. The teams were tied at 1 after the first period, but it would the Oil Barons who would lead by a score of 4-1 after the second frame. With the Saints facing a three-goal deficit, they did what the Oil Barons did the night before and came back to tie the game in the third period. The Saints would get three straight power plays goals from Jayden Davis, Jake Aston and Shane LaVelle. However, the Oil Barons would eventually pull out the victory with a power play and an empty net goal at the end of the game.
The Spruce Grove Saints have scored 4 goals in every game this season so far regardless of the end result. An interesting stat to keep an eye on going to into this weekend’s games.
Players to watch this weekend:
For the Saints, Jayden Davis had 3 points on the weekend and was also named the Merit Contractors AJHL Rookie of the Weekend. Davis is also within the top 15 players in the AJHL with 4 goals and 1 assist.
For the Oil Barons, Hunter Lamb has 5 goals and 4 assists in six games played, with 5 of those points (3G, 2A) coming in this last weekend series. He will be a key to success for the Oil Barons.
Fans can catch all the action on the Saints Radio Network (mixlr.com/sprucegrovesaints) and on HockeyTV starting at 6:45 pm both nights live from Spruce Grove!