The St. Albert Steel continue to forge ahead in the standings after sweeping last weekend’s home stand at Performance Arena.
After edging the Bonnyville Pontiacs 4-3 in a shootout and outscoring the Canmore Eagles 6-5, the Steel (16-9) were tied for sixth spot in the north, one point back of the fifth-place Grande Prairie Storm (15-10-0-3) and two behind the fourth-place Lloydminster Bobcats (17-12).
Against the second-place Pontiacs (18-5-0-6) the Steel let an early two-goal lead slip away and later allowed the visitors to force overtime 17 seconds after Spencer Pommells put St. Albert on top 3-2 on the power play with 1:50 to play.
After a scoreless five-minute three-on-three extra period, Reed Linaker was the only scorer in the shootout. Steel goalie Rhys Hadfield slammed the door shut three times.
The seventh Steel victory decided after regulation time and the second by shootout marked the third time this season St. Albert beat the Pontiacs after regulation time.
Hadfield stopped 25 shots overall. Julien Laplante faced 26 St. Albert shots.
Baxter Niziol and captain Mike Giese scored in the opening 13 minutes of play.
The next night against the Eagles (12-15-0-3), Giese scored what proved to be the game winner as the fourth-year Steel centre celebrated his franchise record 180th game. The previous mark of 179 games was established by Bryce Williamson last season.
Giese, 20, also added an assist in the Steel’s sixth win in seven games and their eighth in 10 games.
His sixth goal and 12th point in 25 games made it 6-3 with 12:30 remaining in the third.
The Steel led 3-1 after the first with consecutive power-play tallies by Taylor Fraser (team-high 15th goal), Derek Bacon (12th) and Pommells (11th).
Rookie Ryan Berlin (seventh) and Linaker (11th) added to the lead early in the middle stanza.
Brandon Fagerheim and defenceman Thomas Ward-Cardinal pitched in with two assists apiece. Fagerheim has now amassed 10 points in eight games since the Steel acquired his services from the Victoria Grizzlies.
Shots were 31-21 for the Eagles as the Steel got outshot for the ninth game in a row. In net was Hadfield (16-8, 3.44 GAA).
The next home game is 7 p.m. Friday against the Alberta Junior Hockey League champion Spruce Grove Saints (22-2-0-3), listed first overall in the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s power rankings. Tickets are $5.
Saturday the Steel visit the Camrose Kodiaks (18-9-0-2), the host team for the 2011 Royal Bank Cup. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
The St. Albert Merchants raised their junior B record above .500 by doubling the Fort Saskatchewan Hawks 4-2 Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
It was a scoreless affair until Nicolas Addessi (ninth), Chris Clark (eight), Jamie Umbach (fifth) and affiliate Matt Bowles beat netminder Darren Douglass in the second period.
The winning goalie was Curtis Ronaldson (5-7, 3.71 GAA).
The victory was the fourth in a row and the fifth in six games for the Merchants (10-9), ranked fourth in the west division. The Hawks (8-9-0-3) are fifth in the east.
The Merchants are back on the ice Friday against the last-place Stony Plain Flyers (1-18-0-1) at 8:30 p.m. in Stony Plain. They recently whipped the line-up depleted Flyers 18-1.
The next home game is Tuesday versus the rival Morinville Jets (8-9-0-2) at 8 p.m.
The St. Albert Sabres overtook the Sherwood Park Flyers for the division lead with their seventh win in a row in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
Goals by Andrew Kary, Jake Kohlhauser and Zack Gonek in the third period broke a 2-2 tie as the Sabres went on to beat the Maple Leafs 5-2 Friday at Castledowns Arena.
Brett Smythe and Joshua Perrott also scored against the Leafs (4-8-4). Luke Wright-Mascotto had two helpers.
The Sabres (10-4-3) dominated the shot count by a wide margin of 48-16. In net was Patrick Dea.
Smythe continues to lead the Sabres in scoring with 26 points, on 11 goals and 15 assists in 17 games.
In the division standings the Sabres are two points ahead of the Flyers (10-4-1) but Sherwood Park has two games in hand.
Tonight the Sabres host the Camrose Kodiaks (1-10-5) at 7:45 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
