The St. Albert Sabres started the new year off with a bang against the Spruce Grove PAC Saints.
In a game featuring two of the top three bantam AAA teams in the north conference, the Sabres pulled off a 6-2 win Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
The Sabres had to fight tooth and nail to come out on top despite what the lopsided score might suggest. The star of the game was Sabres’ netminder Patrick Gora with 34 saves. At the other end, Mathew Meek-White faced 19 St. Albert shots.
“Our goaltending was exceptional today. The shot totals don’t paint the true picture but he played excellent and gave us a chance to win. That’s all we ever ask from our goalies,” said head coach Umberto Fiorillo.
Aside from exceptional goaltending, the Sabres played a nearly perfect game when it came to the special teams unit with a 60 per cent success rate on the power play and five straight penalty kills.
“Our special teams came through. They call them special teams for a reason and they need to be special,” said Fiorillo.
The first period saw the Saints pepper the Sabres with 14 shots. The early onslaught led to a 1-0 lead, but the Sabres quickly responded with a power play goal by Tyler Mrkonjic before the period ended.
The Sabres faced a deficit early in the second period after a Saints goal put the Sabres down by one. St. Albert responded by opening the floodgates with a total of four straight goals off the sticks of Mrkonjic, Zack Gonek, Brett Van Os, Andrew Kary and Paul Lovsin. It was 3-2 Sabres after two periods.
Van Os, the Sabres’ point leader in the game with four, believes the surge in offence is related to the overall improvement in the team’s physical presence after the first period.
“We got the pucks out of our net and made a few adjustments,” he said. “We finished our checks and moved the puck well.”
In league play the Sabres (15-5-3) are two points back of the division-leading SSAC Southgate Lions (16-3-3).
The next game is tonight against the Leduc Oil Kings (15-8-1), ranked second in their division behind the Saints (14-4-5). Faceoff is 7:45 p.m. at Akinsdale.
