Doubling down at home

Home Sweet Home. The Canmore Eagles began the Canmore Recreation Centre portion of their Alberta Junior Hockey League season with two home-ice victories over the weekend.

The Eagles put the pedal down in the second period and drove over the Bonnyville Pontiacs 6-1 on Saturday (Sept. 27). They followed it up with a third-period mauling of the Lloydminster Bobcats for a comeback 6-4 win on Sunday (Sept. 28) afternoon.

Will Lutic continued his inspired play on the weekend after posting a five-point game (two goals and three assists) in a 9-4 thrashing of the Olds Grizzlys on Tuesday (Sept. 23), he would assist on two goals on Saturday and add a goal and an assist on Sunday to raise his season points total to 10 in five games (3G-7A) tying him for the league lead in points.

Following the weekend results, Canmore is now three wins and two losses on the season and the highest scoring team in the league with 27 goals through five games.

Aidan Tkachuk had a four-point game (2G-2A) on Sunday and with points in each of the past four games, including a pair of two goal games, is on eight (4G-4A) for the season.

Cohen Daoust scored in both games and has five on the season – one in each of the five games – and also is in on eight points (5G-3A) for the season.

Bryson Insinger also has five goals on the season and a four-game, goal scoring streak and is on seven points (5G-2A) for the season.

Owen Mastroianni is also on a four-game, points streak and seven points (2G-5A).

Casey Black made his return to the lineup after missing two games. The Eagles captain picked up his first goal of the season on Saturday and an assist on Sunday to raise his points total to five (1G-4A) in three games.

Alex Scheiwiller came within 40 seconds of a shutout on Friday, with a deflection off of a teammate denying him what would have been his fourth career AJHL shutout.

Canmore heads out for a three-game road trip through the northwest portion of the province this coming weekend: Grande Prairie on Friday, Oct. 3 (noon at Bonnetts Energy Centre), Whitecourt on Saturday, Oct. 4 (7 p.m. at JDA Place) and Drayton Valley on Sunday, Oct. 5 (2 p.m. at the Drayton Valley Omniplex).

Black made his presence known in his return by breaking a scoreless tie at 5:07 of the second period. That goal began a four-goal outburst that chased the Pontiacs starting goaltender Ryley Budd (0-2/6.05/.852) from the net, although only for the final 2:22 of the period as he would return for the third period.

Also in that second period, Daoust (4th goal of the season) scored at 11:53, Hudson Landmark (1) scored at 15:57 and Insinger (4) capped the period with a long-range wrist shot at 17:38.

Nathan Salisbury took over for Budd in the second period. He was in goal for the Pontiacs in their 9-4 hammering of the Olds Grizzlys on Friday.

Budd returned to the goal in the third period and was beaten twice more, by Owen Mastroianni (2) at 7:22 and Josh Cleary (2) at 12:59.

At the other end, Schweiller (1-2/3.34/.916) was brilliant in goal for the Eagles, making several spectacular saves while his teammates got their skating legs sorted out in this game. He would, unfortunately, lose what would have been a deserved shutout when a Ben Costantino (3) point shot was inadvertently redirected into the goal.

Canmore outshot Bonnyville 44-33.

On the power play, the Eagles were 0-for-4 while the Pontiacs went 1-for-4.

On Sunday afternoon, a four-goal third period lifted the Eagles to their third successive victory.

Lloydminster held the lead on two occasions, including holding a two-goal advantage early in the third period.

Gus El-Tahhan (1) gave the Bobcats the lead just 36 seconds into the contest, a quick, low shot from near the left-wing, face-off dot that got past Eagles netminder Hudson Sedo on the near post.

John Szabo scored his first of the season and the Eagles first goal at 9:03, when coming out of the penalty box he was sent in alone on goal with a pass from Matroianni, then making no mistake with a high, hard shot on Bobcats goaltender Matthew Kondro.

Kondro (1-1/2.89/.893) was the netminder that made life miserable for Canmore in last year’s playoffs, coming off the bench for the Drumheller Dragons for the final 40 minutes of Game 7 with the contest tied 1-1 and stopping all 18 shots he faced. The Dragons would win 4-1 ending the Eagles’ season. This afternoon though it would the Eagles’ offence prevailing.

Canmore did grab the lead in the second period, via a power-play goal by Tkachuk (3) at 4:30, but it was answered by goals from Bobcats Jaxan Hopko (1), on the power play, at 8:57 and Brady Gamble (1) at 18:38. Hopko’s goal came during a confusing period for the Bobcats, who had only four skaters on the ice when it should have featured a 5-on-3 manpower advantage, but it worked out for the visitors.

Lloydminster seemed to hold all the momentum when Jack Ferguson (2) made it 4-2 with another power-play goal just 1:13 into the third period.

Tkachuk (4) would help turn the momentum around with a backhand goal during a scramble in front of goal at 5:13. That was followed by Lutic (3) first scoring on the power play at 10:42 then setting up Insinger (5) for the game-winning goal, a quick shot into the unguarded portion of the goal, at 17:46. Daoust (5), shooting from near the Eagles’ bench, added an insurance marker into an empty goal at 18:20.

Lloydminster outshot Canmore 40-34, with Sedo’s third-period save off Ferguson, who was in all alone and could have made it a three-goal lead, helping switch the momentum. The Canmore netminder also denied Morgan Hackman a penalty shot goal in the second period, keeping his stick on the ice and in front of him as the Bobcats’ forward tried to tuck the puck between the pads.

On the power play, Canmore was 2-for-4 while Lloydminster went 2-for-7.

OVERTIME: Whitecourt Wolverines (4-0-0-0) are the lone undefeated team in the AJHL. … The Olds Grizzlys (1-4-0-0) became the last of all 12 teams to record a win this season with a 3-2 victory over the Drayton Valley Thunder on Sunday. The Grizzlys had back-to-back 9-4 losses to Canmore and Bonnyville before their first victory. … Saturday’s attendance was 916 fans, while Sunday afternoon saw 400 fans take in the games at the Canmore Recreation Centre. … Canmore’s next home game is Tuesday, Oct. 14, when they host the Drumheller Dragons beginning at 7 p.m. … All AJHL games can be viewed with a flohockey.tv subscription. … The Canmore Eagles are in need of more volunteers to help with game day experiences, email info@canmoreeagles.com for more information on opportunities and game-day perks that come with being part of the Game Day Crew.