Gas Drive Cup Finals Spruce Grove vs. Drumheller (Game #1 Saints lead 1-0)
Two evenly matched teams met up on Friday night in Spruce Grove as the Saints and Dragons opened up the 2014 Gas Drive Cup Finals.
The Saints would skate away with a 5-2 victory to take a 1-0 series lead.
The Saints would open the scoring as Dylan Hollman (unassisted) took a bounce off the end glass and was able to chip the puck past Dragons’ goaltender Devin Buffalo at 6:55 of the opening period.
The Dragons would tie the game at 1-1 as Jesse Zaharichuk (assist to Mitchell Cook) pounced on a rebound and snapped the shot behind Saints’ goaltender Kenny Cameron at 13:39 of the opening period.
Shots favored the Saints 14-13 in the opening period.
Both teams went 0/1 on the power play in the first.
In the second, the Dragons would get their first lead of the night as Tristan Thompson fired a shot that Jesse Zaharichuk (assists to Tristan Thompson and Mitchell Cook) tipped five hole on Cameron to make it 2-1 at 4:19.
The Saints would tie the game at 2-2, as Connor James (assists to Tristan Sieben and Nathan Smith) would pounce on a rebound and beat Buffalo at 14:05.
Shots would favor Saints 11-9 in the period and 25-22 in the hockey game.
The Saints would get one power play in the second, while the Dragons got two.
After two periods the Saints were 0/2 on the power play and the Dragons 0/3.
The Saints would take the lead in the third period as Macklin Pichonsky (assists to Parker Mackay and Cameron Hughes) swept the rebound past Buffalo to make it 3-2 at 12:12.
The Saints would then add to their lead on the power play as Austin Hunter (assists to Paul Lovsin and Brandon Hickey) put a shot on goal from the point that bounced into the net behind Buffalo to make it 4-2 at 15:17.
The Saints kept coming late in the third period as Nathan Smith (assist to Dylan Hollman) hammered a one-timer past Buffalo to make it 5-2 at 18:50.
The Dragons would cap off the scoring as Jarrell Pinchuk (unassisted) fired a shot from center ice that beat Cameron to make it 5-3 Saints at 19:58.
Shots favored the Saints 13-7 in the period and 38-29 in the hockey game.
The Dragons didn’t get a power play in the third period, while the Saints had three.
Drumheller finished the game 0/3 on the power play while Spruce Grove was 1/5.
Game two will be Saturday night in Spruce Grove.
Story by Chris Colwell