AJHL Gas Drive Cup Finals Game #3 Drumheller vs. Spruce Grove (Saints lead 3-0)
The Spruce Grove Saints are just one win away from winning the 2014 Gas Drive Cup after they defeated the Drumheller Dragons 4-2 on Monday night.
Neither team was able to score in the opening period.
Shots favored the Dragons 8-6 in the first period.
The Saints were 0/3 on the power play, while the Dragons went 0/1.
The Saints would open the scoring just 46 seconds into the second period as Austin Hunter (assist to Dylan Hollman) pounced on a rebound and beat Dragons’ goaltender Curtis Skip over the blocker.
The Saints would add to the lead as Geoffrey Crisfield (unassisted) fanned on a shot but the puck found its way behind Skip into the back of the net at 4:44.
The Saints continued to add to their lead, this time scoring shorthanded as Jarid Hauptman scored on the rebound after Geoffrey Crisfield was stopped on a breakaway at 15:12.
The shots favored the Saints 15-6 in the second period and 21-14 in the hockey game.
The Saints were once again 0/3 on the power play and 0/6 after two periods.
The Dragons went 0/2 on the power play and were 0/3 after two periods.
The Saints would get another shorthanded goal in the third period. With Skip on the bench, the Saints would send the puck the length of the ice where it hit the post. Jarid Hauptman (assists to Cole Nicholson and Brandon Hickey) then poked the puck into the net at 17:39 to make it 4-0.
The Dragons would spoil the shutout bid of Saints’ goaltender Kenny Cameron as Colton Vannucci (assists to Christopher Rauckman and Hunter Mills) ripped a shot from the point on the power play at 18:07.
The Dragons would get within two late in the period as Hunter Mills (assists to Ethan James and Colton Vannucci) banged the puck past Cameron to make it 4-2 at 19:33.
The Dragons would outshoot the Saints in the third period 13-7 but it was the Saints who outshot the Dragons 28-27 in the hockey game.
The Saints were 0/2 on the power play in the third period and 0/8 in the hockey game.
The Dragons were 1/3 in the third period on the power play and 1/6 in the hockey game.
Game four will be Tuesday night in Drumheller.
Story by Chris Colwell