League: Regular Season

Sherwood Park Saints at Southwest Zone 703

Recap by Keith Yasinko

2nd game of a back to back weekend for the Saints coming off the loss to KC the night before.  Tonight’s roster includes 2 affiliates, 1F and 1D.  A sluggish start has the Saints down 2 midway through the period.  The Saints do manage to kill all 3 minor penalties in the back half of the period and trail 2 to 0 after 1.

A penalty filled second period has the Saints give up one more goal and trail 3 to 0 after 2.  Saints do kill of a full 2 minutes of 5 on 3 late in the period to keep it close-ish.  7 minor penalties (9 if you include double minors) had the Saints playing shorthanded most of the period.

A different Saints team shows up to start the third and get 2 quick goals form Reno Zaharia in the first 2 minutes to pull within 1.  The Saints completely dominate the period and are rewarded with 2 more quick goals from Dawson Macmillan and Affiliate Johnny Law to go up 4 to 3 with 10 minutes remaining.  Saints keep up the pressure and go up by 2 on a goal from Easton Roy with only 5 minutes left.  SZ gets one back to make it interesting at 5 to 4 with 3:30 left however the Saints pressure nets them the clincher from David Fleming with 1 minute left.  Saints hang on to win this one 6 to 4 and even the league season record at 2-2.

Next up is a rematch with SZ703 Wednesday January 8 at the Randy Rosen.

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Sherwood Park Saints at Knights of Columbus 702

Recap by Keith Yasinko

Saints first game back after the lengthy Christmas break with a roster that includes 4 affiliate players (2 forwards and 2 Defenseman) due to absences, injuries, and suspensions.  Previous meeting between these teams in the tiering round saw a 5-2 Saints victory.

Back and forth first period ends with the teams tied at 1.  The Saints outshot KC 11 to 8 and not a single penalty to either team in that period.

The goals came in bunches in the second period, unfortunately by a 4 to 1 margin for KC leaving the Saints with a 5 to 2 deficit after 2 periods.  Shots in the second were 15 to 13 in favor of KC.

Saints start the 3rd on a power play and score a quick one to get it to 5-3.  Another power play goal less than a minute later makes it 5-4 and a shorthanded goal less than 2 minutes after that has it all tied up at 5 only 4 minutes into the third period.

Unfortunately, the tie is short lived as KC strikes back with both a shorthanded goal and a power play goal to go up 7 to 5 with just under 9 minutes remaining.

Ben Kraiger stops a penalty shot to keep the deficit to only 2.

A Saints power play goal with just under 5 minutes left cuts the lead to 1.

A late KC bench minor gives the Saints a late power play.  6 on 4 with the goalie pulled for the last minute however despite some great looks, the Saints cant find the equalizer and fall 7 to 6.

Saints outshoot KC 17 to 13 in the third and 41 to 36 overall.

PHOTO GALLERY

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Game photos by Mark Scheuer

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Sherwood Park Saints at Leduc 701

The Saints second regular season game sees them on the road against Leduc. Leduc is coming off a one goal win against Beaumont yesterday. This is the first meeting of the year between theses two teams. The Saints score on their second shot of the game to take a 1-0 lead. The Saints dominate the first period out shooting Leduc 14-6. They continue to hold a 1-0 lead after the first period.

The Saints score an early second period goal to extend the lead to 2-0. Leduc’s goalie the makes a breakaway save to keep it 2-0 Saints. Leduc capitalizes on a Saints giveaway on their own end to cut the lead to 2-1. A post saves Leduc from going down 3-1. A fairly even second period saw the shots even at 9. The Saints hold a 2-1 going into the third period. The Saints have successfully killed off their 2 disadvantages so far this game. All the practice last game seemed to help.

The Saints fail to take advantage of an early power play in the third period and the score remains 2-1. Leduc ties the game at two with a shot from the point with 6:43 left in the game. The Saints respond quickly with a goal to take the lead 3-2. The Saints take a late penalty to give Leduc a chance to tie the game. The Saints score a short handed game to take a 4-2 lead. Another penalty gives Leduc a 5 on 3. The Saints kill off the opportunity to hold a 4-2 lead with 1:24 left in the game. Another late penalty allows Leduc to pull their goalie. The Saints hang on for a 4-2 victory.

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Game photos by Bill Clark

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Sturgeon 701 at Sherwood Park Saints

The Saints look to avenge their last loss of the tiering round against Sturgeon in their first game of the league season. The Saints dominate the first five minutes of the first period, but then run into some penalty trouble seeing four Saints in the box and only one SU701. The Saints manage to kill off a lengthy 5 on 3. The Saints also manage to kill off a second 5 on 3. A penalty filled first period saw Sturgeon out shoot the Saints 11-7.

An early power play goal gives Sturgeon a 1-0 lead in the second period. The Saints now get a lengthy 5 on 3 to try to tie the game. The Saints fail to capitalize on the opportunity, but they do score a goal shortly after to tie the game at 1. Unfortunately, they then give up one shortly afterwards. The Saints give up a short handed breakaway goal to fall behind 3-1. The Saints out shoot Sturgeon 14-6 n the second period, but trail 3-1 on the scoresheet.

The Saints kill off yet another lengthy 5 on 3. The Saints give up another breakaway goal and fall behind 4–1. The time on the clock get shortened which hurts the Saints as they had a five minute power play. Shots on the third were 10-4 for the Saints, but they fall 4-1 to Sturgeon.

Pictures of the referees included since they delayed the game so much.

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Game photos by Bill Clark

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