Recap

By John K. White

The Saints came out flat after crushing Ft. Saskatchewan in their previous tiering-round game, and the visiting Sturgeon Mustangs used aggressive forechecking to pump in four goals in the first period.

It was an uphill slog from there, and Sturgeon may have drawn extra inspiration and edge after one of their top players went down hard after a mid-ice collision with the Saints’ Connor Kreiser. The play resulted in a five-minute major penalty against the Saints for kneeing and a misconduct.

The Mustangs took the next five penalties in the second period, and the Saints did manage one goal to make it 5-1 after two.

Saints’ defenceman Brenden Bullick was a presence all game, whether it was on the penalty kills or on zone entries.

In the third, Sturgeon goaltender Drake Young elevated his already strong game to new levels, making several spectacular saves to keep the Saints hopes dim. Despite that, two late Saints goals from David Fleming and Illia Gniazdovskyi made things interesting. But, the surge came just a bit late as the Mustangs held on for a 5-3 final.

Another tiering round has ended.  Hear are your leaders for the 2024 – 2025 season tiering round:

Points = 11 Dominic Amyotte-Lorenson and Anraj Dahliwal

Goals = 6 Dominic Amyotte Lorenson

Assists = 6 Anraj Dahliwal and Easton Roy

Penalty Minutes = 30 Connor Kreiser

Wins = 3 Carsten Scheuer

PHOTO GALLERY

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Game photos by John K. White