By Terry Martin
The Saints and Eagles played each other for the first time tonight this season as Spruce Grove looked to get back into the win column after Wednesday’s loss. The Canmore Eagles sit 5th in the South division with 39 points and 16 wins as they come off a loss to the Crusaders last night. The Saints are 4 points up on the Oil Barons in 1st place as they both have played the same number of games now this season.
The Eagles would come out of the gate with 2 goals within the fist 5 minutes of the game. Austin Lusok would score from the point 40 seconds in and Ethan Schaeffer would fire the puck into the net from the slot. Breck McKinley would then cut the lead in half at the 3:25 mark on the power play as he would fire the puck from the top of the circle. Kyle Young would then regain that 2-goal lead on Canmore’s power play opportunity. The Saints would trail 3-1 on the scoreboard but would edge out the Eagles 14-12 in shots after 20 minutes of play.
Jayden Davis would start the period off with a great shot from the hashmarks to bring the Saints within 1 goal. Brett Pfoh would end up getting an assist on the Davis goal, tonight being his birthday. Riley Dekowny would then score 2 goals in the period, first on a 2-on-1 play, then he would tip the puck in with 10:04 left in the second period to give them a 5-2 lead. The Saints would end the period still on top in the shot department, 26-17 after 2 periods of play.
The Saints would battle back through the first 10 minutes of the final frame as they would grab the majority of scoring chances but would be unable to solve the Eagles goaltender. Braeden Virtue would then fire the puck home after finding the puck in a scramble in front of the net with 10 minutes to go. The Saints would own the puck in the last half of the period, but would fall 5-3 to the Eagles. Spruce Grove would dominate in shots 46-21 after 60 minutes. The Saints lose to for the first time in regulation on home ice this season as they drop 2 in a row.
Quick turn around in Spruce Grove as they are right back in the action against the Calgary Canucks for a 2:00pm start on Sunday.