The St. Albert Steel flashed their playoff form in Wednesday's must-win game at Sherwood Park.
Five different players scored and Rhys Hadfield stopped 29 shots in the 5-3 decision against the Crusaders.
"From goaltending out, we played pretty solid. It was a good effort, which is what we need right now. It's pretty much playoff hockey from here on in," said centre Reed Linaker. "We had a really good first period. Second period was not too bad either. In the third, we came out real hard and got a good road win."
Period scores were 1-1 and 2-2.
"We were pretty much on the pedal the whole game," said right-winger Taylor Fraser. "We never had any five-minute or 10-minute lapses where we held back. There was a couple of shifts when we were hemmed in our zone but it was always good defensive positioning on our part."
In the third, after Jordan Kochan (fifth) put the Steel up 3-2, Adam Burns struck shorthanded on a breakaway for the Crusaders at 3:49. Six seconds later, the Steel regained the lead when Derek Bacon potted his 23rd goal and 10th on the power play.
"That shorthanded goal kind of deflated us a little bit, but on the ensuing faceoff I kind of poked the puck through the centreman's legs and went in with Bacon on a two on one and he tapped one in," Linaker said. "Obviously it was a huge goal to put wind back into our sails and we kind of cruised from there."
Tyler Parks (seventh) netted the insurance marker on the power play with 6:03 to play.
Fagerheim (fifth) tied it in the first as the Steel outshot the home team 10-5.
Shots overall were 32-27 for the Crusaders.
Baxter Niziol, Brandon Fagerheim and newcomer Nate Engert also dropped the gloves in the spirited affair.
"It was a really good overall game by us," said Fraser.
His team-leading 30th goal made it 2-1 at 7:11 in period two. Linemates Tanner Labbe and Linaker assisted on the 52nd goal of his career.
"They both were racing for the puck and then there was a chip by Linny and another chip by Labbe right to me in the slot," Fraser said of the milestone marker. "I was pretty pumped. Any time you hit 30 goals it's pretty cool."
Scoring threat
Fraser, 19, is one of only four players to register 30 or more goals this season in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. His 56 points in 49 games was tied for eighth best in league scoring, prior to Friday's home tilt against the Drayton Valley Thunder. The score was unavailable at press time.
"Taylor is having a great year. Obviously, he had the potential to do it since he came into the league but hadn't really got a shot until this year so it's good to see him stepping up," said Linaker, who broke into the AJHL the same year as Fraser with the 2008/09 Steel. "He's a shooter first so he's going to score lots of goals and I think we kind of feed off each other well in that aspect."
The Steel's hottest scorer racked up six goals in four games and eight in the last seven.
"I guess I've got the hot stick," said Fraser, who surpassed his career high of 16 goals and 27 points, set last season in 57 games. "It seems the puck has been following me around. I know that there has been a couple of times this season where I've been getting those opportunities and I haven't been putting them in so it's nice to finally be cashing in those opportunities."
Back on the ice
The second win in three games by the Steel marked the return of Linaker to the line-up after sitting out seven in a row with a lower body injury.
"It went better than I thought, actually. My wind was pretty good. My legs weren't too bad either. I thought I would be a little tired but for the most part it was pretty good," said the Steel's player of the game with two assists.
The Steel lost five games with their most talented skater injured.
"Sitting out at any time is tough, even when they're winning," said Linaker, the team's third-leading scorer with 51 points in 33 games. "They played well towards the end when I was injured but it's always tough to watch your team struggle. When I came back I was hoping we could just flip that around and start getting some wins."
The third win in 10 games left the Steel (25-22-2) two points back of the sixth-place Crusaders (24-21-6) with two games in hand.
"The last five or six games we've definitely been having a good effort every night and that's what we're trying to do. We want to keep our effort going and peak at the right time come playoff time," Fraser said.
Race for fifth
Finishing fourth for home-ice advantage in the best-of-five opening playoff round is no longer a possibility for the Steel. Their sights are now focused on the fifth-place Lloydminster Bobcats (28-22-4).
"We want to catch Lloyd so these three games this weekend are huge. We want to win all three going into the Lloyd game [Wednesday]," Linaker said. "We want to get to that fifth spot. They're eight points ahead and we have five games in hand so it's possible. We just have to bring our boots to every game and work hard."
Tonight at 7 p.m. at Performance Arena the Steel host the Calgary Canucks (15-32-5), the bottom team in the south. Sunday the Steel visit the Thunder (8-38-7) at 2:30 p.m.
"Every game is huge right now, especially this weekend with three in three. We could potentially get six points so our eye is on the prize right now," Fraser said. "If we put in a consistent effort and work hard every night, we'll be fine."
After this weekend the Steel have eight games remaining, including three at home. Their road record is 10-13-1.
"Wherever we finish, we finish. We just want to be playing our best hockey going into the playoffs," said Linaker, 19, who checked out scholarship possibilities with the Sacred Heart University Pioneers, an NCAA division one team in Fairfield, Conn., during a recent recruiting visit.
