By Terry Martin
The Spruce Grove Saints hosted their first feature game of the month tonight against the Drayton Valley Thunder, hoping to keep their winning streak alive at the Grant Fuhr Arena. Al Stafford and Steve Newsome were some notable guests in attendance along with tons of fan interactions. The Thunder were coming off a win of their own against the Drumheller Dragons last night, as they looked to keep rolling. The Saints are tied for first in the North with the Oil Barons as both teams keep trading wins.
Kadyn Chabot would be the one to open the scoring for the Thunder, finding himself on a breakaway and beating Onyskiw with 11:08 left in the period. The Saints goalie, Onyskiw, would keep the Thunder to just one goal throughout the period, making some great saves along the way. The Saints would double up the Thunder in shots 14-7 after 20 minutes of play.
Both teams would continue to bring the energy through the second period, with lots of big hits thrown and some great chances had. Luigi Benincasa would be the one to get the tying goal in the second period for the Saints, banging home the rebound in front of the net. Logan Acheson would then give the Saints their first lead of the game as he would roof the puck on the Thunder goalie. The Saints would keep their lead and almost double the Thunder again in shots, 29-15.
Both teams would continue the great defensive play while also keeping up the pace, the Saints would look to keep the lead in the third period. Caden Cabana would be able to add an insurance marker late in the period to give the Saints a 3-1 lead. Cabana would find himself in front of the net and be able to tip the puck home on the power play for his 4th goal of the season. Daniel Kernaghan would then be able to cut the lead to 1 for the Thunder, just getting the puck over Onyskiw. The Saints would end up holding off the Thunder push and win their 6th straight game 3-2. The final shots in game favoured Spruce Grove 37-25.
The Saints have now won 6 games in a row and are back at home on Wednesday, November 3rd against the Crusaders to continue their 7 game home stand!