By Terry Martin
The Spruce Grove Saints played their 3rd game in 4 nights as they faced off against the Whitecourt Wolverines. The Saints looked to sweep the season series against the Wolverines, winning all 5 of the previous games. Spruce Grove has outscored the Wolverines 27-14 in the season series so far, and won 5-2 in their last meeting at the beginning of January. Whitecourt is on a 1 game win streak and currently sits 5th in the North with 48 points and 22 wins.
The Saints would dominate most of the period, getting a power play opportunity and generating most of the high-quality chances. However, the Wolverines would be the ones to break the ice as Christiano Aiello would fire a back hand up top to beat Martin. The Saints would trail 1-0 but would dominate the shot clock, leading 17-6 after 20 minutes of play.
The second period started off with a 15-minute delay as a couple of players collided in the corner and the glass ended up falling out of place. The Saints would continue to dominate in shots and opportunities throughout the period but could not find the back of the net. A rare start to the game as the Saints got shutout after 2 periods, but they still lead 29-11 on the shot clock.
Cooper Smyl would start this period off with a goal, putting the puck far side to give the Wolverines a 2-0 lead. Caiden Gault would answer right back 30 seconds later with his 36th goal of the season to cut the lead in half. Whitecourt would continue to hold onto the lead for the rest of the game and the Saints win streak ends at 4 games as they fall 2-1. Final shots would favour the Saints 39-20 after 60 minutes.
The Saints are back in action at the Grant Fuhr Arena as they faceoff against the Canmore Eagles for the first time this season for a 7:00 pm puck drop on Saturday.