Merchants win
The St. Albert Merchants are undefeated in four games when they face-off against the North Edmonton Red Wings tonight in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.Game time is 8 p.m. at Londonderry Arena.
The fourth-place Merchants (17-12-1) trail the second-place Red Wings (20-10-2) by seven points in the west division.
The second win in a row during a 3-0-1 stretch for the Merchants was 7-3 Friday against the Leduc Riggers (4-27) at Akinsdale Arena.
Brenden Passek paced the attack with three goals and one assist and Matt Havens picked up three helpers.
Cam Mazur, Jack Langenhahn, Marco Runco and Sam Milner (shorthanded) notched singles.
The Merchants outscored the last-place CJHL team 4-1 in the third period.
Shots were 47-27 for The Blue Guys in support of netminder Ethan Crotty (9-8, 3.75 GAA).
Sunday the Merchants host the Edmonton Mustangs (12-15-3) at 8 p.m.
Jets lose
The third loss in four games dropped the Morinville Jets into third place in the west division of the Capital Junior B Hockey League.Sunday’s 6-2 setback to the Edmonton Royals (16-12-2) at Ray McDonald Sports Centre left the Jets (19-10-2) two points back of the North Edmonton Red Wings (20-10-2) with a game in hand.
Brett Dubuc and Scott Woloshyn capitalized on the power play while the Royals capitalized three times with the man advantage against the most penalized team in the north with 799 PIM.
In the CJHL scoring race, Dubuc ranks third in goals with 37 and is fourth in points with 65 in 31 games.
The Royals led 3-2 after the second period.
The shot count was 13-4 in the third and 36-21 overall for the Royals as Colton Kucher (8-5, 2.01 GAA) went the distance for the Jets.
The Jets were coming off a 4-2 decision against the first-place Beverly Warriors (22-8-1) earlier in the week at Clareview Arena.
Beverly tallied twice with the man advantage to open the scoring and the Jets replied with goals by Regan Regimbald and Dubuc (power play) before the first period ended and Lee Gadoury and Dubuc found the back of the net in the third. Dubuc also collected two assists.
Shots were 43-30 for Beverly and Luke Hall (9-6, 3.58 GAA) tended the twine for the Jets.
League play continues Friday against the host Sherwood Park Knights (14-14-3) at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday against the Fort Saskatchewan Hawks (18-8-4) at 7:15 p.m. in Morinville.
Slash at home
The next midget AAA game for the St. Albert Ron Hodgson Slash is tonight against the Edmonton Pandas in the Alberta Female Hockey League.Faceoff is 8 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
The Slash (13-7) are 4-0 against the Pandas (1-16-2) this season.
The last game for the 2017 Esso Cup national champions was Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the Rocky Mountain Raiders (16-4-2) in St. Albert.
Madison Willan’s power-play marker tied it at one in the first period.
The Slash were outshot 25-15 and Camryn Drever (7-3, 1.51 GAA) was in net.
The Raiders and Slash are first and third, respectively, in the six-team standings and the season series is even at three wins apiece.
Raiders blanked
The St. Albert Tire Warehouse Raiders are winless in four games after Sunday’s shutout loss in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.Daniel Allin stopped 29 shots while backstopping the Southside Athletic Club past the Raiders 6-0 at Akinsdale Arena.
Evan Fradette (5-6-2, 2.16 GAA) let in three goals on seven shots in the opening 22.04 minutes and Mitch Reidy (8-4-3, 2.14 GAA) was beaten three times on 17 shots.
The Southside (7-12-9) lit the lamp four times in the middle frame to lead by five goals after 40 minutes.
The Raiders (13-10-5) are five points back of the north division leading KC Pats (17-9-2) with seven games remaining before the playoffs.
The Raiders have lost two in a row during a 0-3-1 slump when they play the host Lethbridge Hurricanes (20-4-4), the first-place team in the south, at 6:15 p.m. Saturday.
Meanwhile, a number of Raiders continue to see action in the Alberta Junior Hockey League as call-ups. Last weekend forward Brady Nicholas played for the Fort McMurray Oil Barons, forward Zach Carlson and defenceman Aidan West skated for the Canmore Eagles and forward Cam Aucoin was with the Sherwood Park Crusaders.
Overall, 12 Raiders have made their AJHL debuts this season.
Flyers soaring
The St. Albert Flyers show no signs of slowing down in the Albert Minor Midget AAA Hockey League as co-leaders in the north division standings.The midget 15 Flyers are undefeated in 14 games at 10-0-4 after doubling the SSAC Bulldogs 4-2 Friday at Callingwood Recreation Centre.
The Flyers (16-3-6, 99 GF/64 GA) and Sherwood Park Squires (18-4-2, 82 GF/38 GA) are tied for the top spot in the north and the Squires have one game in hand.
Dylan McFatridge, Ronin Pusch, Ethan McKinley and Ethan Pool scored on 44 shots against SSAC (8-11-5) and Ethan Barwick (11-2-3) recorded the win with 34 saves.
The next game is Sunday versus the Grande Peace Storm (8-11-7) at 11:30 a.m. at Akinsdale Arena. The Flyers are 8-1-2 on home ice.
AFHL Raiders
The bantam elite St. Albert Raiders solidified their first-place standing in the north division of the Alberta Female Hockey League with three victories last weekend.Scores were 5-2 against the Lloydminster Steelers (8-11-1) Friday and 4-1 against the Peace Country Storm (10-8-1) Saturday in St. Albert and 3-0 against the Edmonton Pandas (11-7-1) Sunday at Bill Hunter Arena.
Layla Hood (11-3, 1.33 GAA) faced 20 shots against the Pandas while registering her fifth shutout of the season.
Bronwyn Boucher tallied twice and Mikayla Sarapuk also scored as the Raiders (14-5-2) posted their seventh consecutive win.
Boucher leads the team in goals with 10 and is second in points with 15. Kate-Lyn Charko is the top scorer with 16 points.
The Raiders have a break in the schedule until next weekend.
