The St. Albert Steel continue to spin their wheels in the race for fourth place in the north division and home-ice advantage in the opening best-of-five playoff round.
Losers of four in a row and five of the last six games — all on the road — the Steel (22-19-2) are stuck in seventh place. They are 12 points back of the fourth-place Lloydminster Bobcats (27-18-4) with six games in hand.
Tonight at 7 p.m. the Steel host the Bobcats at Performance Arena.
In Sunday’s tilt in the Border City, the Bobcats doubled the Steel 4-2. The fourth goal was scored into an empty net with eight seconds remaining.
Period scores were 1-0 and 2-1 for the home team. Spencer Pommells potted his 15th goal in the middle frame and Taylor Fraser’s 23rd goal knotted the count at 2:37 in the third. Less than a minute later, Casey Knight sniped the game winner.
The Steel were outshot 30-26. In net was Rhys Hadfield (22-16-2, 3.61 GAA).
The night before in Spruce Grove, the Steel lost 4-1 to the Alberta Junior Hockey League champion Saints (37-4-4), the number-one ranked team in the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
Defenceman Jordan Abt opened the scoring at 4:37 with his third goal. Credited with assists was Abt’s brother, Matt, and Bryce Sauers (first Steel point in 19 games).
It was 1-1 in the second, when the Saints struck twice on the power play at 1:57 (roughing minor to Baxter Niziol) and 16:01 (high-sticking major to newcomer Nate Engert).
The Steel were 0-for-6 on the power play. They were also outshot 36-27. Making a rare start between the pipes was Chris Sharkey (0-3, 4.79 GAA).
This weekend the Steel visit the Sherwood Park Crusaders (21-18-6) Friday at 7 p.m. They also play the Saints in Stony Plain at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The Steel trail the sixth-place Crusaders by two points with two games hand.
The St. Albert Merchants are one point out of second place in the west division standings after banking their second win in five games.
Stefan Meunier’s shorthanded marker with 3:42 left in regulation time broke a 3-3 tie, as the Merchants edged the Strathcona Bruins (14-13-0-2) 4-3 Sunday at Fultonvale. It was Meunier’s hat-trick goal and sixth tally in 10 games since joining the Merchants from the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder. In period two he made it 2-0 on the power play and 3-0 at even strength.
Meunier’s 79 penalty minutes is also the third-highest total on the team.
Jake Behiels’ 26th goal opened the scoring in the first on the power play. After two periods it was 3-2 Merchants. Alex Hawirko added two assists. The winning goalie was Curtis Ronaldson (10-8, 3:46 GAA).
The Merchants were coming off an 8-4 loss to the division-leading Beverly Warriors (22-5-0-5) Friday at Akinsdale Arena. Beverly posted period leads of were 4-2 and 7-3. Kyle Beddows, Ryan Creelman, Meunier and Behiels scored. Ronaldson and Justin Pawlenchuk (7-6, 4.44 GAA) split time in net.
This weekend the Merchants (17-13-0-1) host the Edmonton Mustangs (12-15-0-4) Friday at 8 p.m. and Sunday they visit the Sherwood Park Knights (20-11) at 8 p.m.
The Merchants are 10-5-1 at home and 7-8 on the road.
The last game for the St. Albert Sabres before the John Reid Memorial Tournament was Friday’s 5-0 victory over CAC Lehigh Cement at Callingwood Arena.
Patrick Gora (11-3-2, 2.11 GAA) stopped 23 shots while pitching his first shutout of the season. Tyler Mrkonjic scored twice and Brett Van Os, Brenden Passek and Andrew Kary notched singles. Mrkonjic and Van Os added two assists apiece.
In the division standings, the Sabres (18-6-3) are two points behind the first-place SSAC Southgate Lions (19-3-3), who have two games in hand on St. Albert. In fourth spot is CAC (10-14-2).
The Sabres are now 4-1 in January.
Meanwhile, at the Reid tournament the Sabres will face off Thursday against the Red Deer Rebels White at 10:45 a.m. and Phoenix Junior Coyotes at 7:30 p.m. at Performance Arena. Friday’s game against the Burnaby Winter Club starts at 2:15 p.m. at Performance.
Last year the Sabres finished 3-1-1, including a 2-0-1 showing in the round robin to qualify for the A-side playoff bracket. In the semifinals the Sabres fell 9-3 to the Los Angeles Selects. They would go on to defeat Burnaby 3-2 in the final to become the first non-Canadian team to capture the championship trophy.
The 33rd annual St. Albert bantam AAA tournament is comprised of 16 teams. The A final goes 2 p.m. Sunday at Performance. See page 73 for the round robin and playoff schedules.
The website is www.johnreidmemorial.com.
