The St. Albert Merchants battle the North Edmonton Red Wings tonight in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
Puck drop is 8 p.m. at Londonderry Arena.
The fourth-place Merchants (13-8-2) trail the second-place Red Wings (15-6-1) by three points in the west division.
The Merchants beat the defending Founders Cup and provincial champions and 2015 Keystone Cup western silver medallists 5-4 Sept. 27 in St. Albert and 3-1 Nov. 11 at Londonderry.
The sixth win in eight games for the Merchants was Friday’s 6-3 decision against the first-place Edmonton Mustangs (17-5) at Akinsdale Arena.
Jared Kwasney's third goal in three games and fifth of the season, a power-play effort 58 seconds into the third period, snapped a 3-3 stalemate.
The over-age (21-year-old) defenceman has recorded four goals and eight points in his last six games.
Jake Mercier's 12th goal at 14:55 and Thomas Rotundo’s second goal of the night and ninth of the season, an empty-net marker in the last minute of play, rounded out the scoring in the final home game until Jan. 8. The team’s record in St. Albert is 6-6.
Rotundo and Cam Mazur's 12th goal ended the opening period with the Merchants on top 2-1.
Matt Havens made it 3-2 at 3:39 of the second. Havens and Mazur finished with two assists apiece.
Havens is seventh in CJHL scoring with 45 points in 19 games and is tied for fifth in goals with 22.
Shots were 36-30 for the Merchants and Ty Clelland (11-8, 3.57 GAA) was between the pipes.
Friday the Merchants play the Chiefs (12-9-1) in Beaumont at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday’s tilt with the Morinville Jets (10-13-1) starts at 6:45 p.m. at Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
The Merchants beat the Jets twice this season by scores of 6-2 Oct. 16 in St. Albert and 7-3 Nov. 21 in Morinville after going 3-1 against their CJHL rivals last season and 3-0-1 the previous season.
The Jets are 2-2-1 in their last five games after Sunday’s 6-2 win over the Spruce Grove Regals (3-18-1) in Morinville.
After the 23-game mark, Tyler Hagel and Brandon Dubuc shared the team lead in goals with 20 and Hagel led the Jets in assists with 17 and points with 37.
Friday the Jets visit the Fort Saskatchewan Hawks (12-8-2) at 8 p.m. at JRC Arena.
The St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres continued their winning ways with a two-game sweep in Grande Prairie last weekend.
The Sabres improved to 15-3-4 with victories of 6-1 and 4-2 against the Grande Peace Storm (6-14-2).
The Sabres are second in the nitro north standings and tied for third overall in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League with 34 points in 22 games.
Stuart Dovey’s hat-trick and Ryley Morgan’s two goals and one assist paced the attack in the team’s first game in Grande Prairie. Blake Sydlowski finished with one goal and two assists.
The shot count was 63-16 for the Sabres and Ryley Osland (6-3-1, 2.77 GAA) was in net.
In the rematch, Austin Spiridakis broke a 2-2 deadlock with 5:20 remaining and Sydlowski potted his second goal of the game into an empty net.
Ethan Edwards also scored and captain Brady Nicholas and Michael Benning had two helpers apiece.
Shots were 67-23 for the Sabres and netminder Evan Fradette (9-0-3, 1.88 GAA) posted the win.
The Sabres were missing four regulars in both games.
Saturday the Sabres host the Maple leafs (0-19) at 8 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
The Morinville Kings face-off against the top two north division teams in the North Central Senior AA Hockey League this weekend.
Game times are 8:30 p.m. Saturday against the Tofield Satelites at Ray McDonald Sports Centre and 4:40 p.m. Sunday against the Bonnyville Pontiacs on the road.
Both teams are 9-1 and the Kings are third at 5-4-1 after last weekend’s 4-1 win over the host Slave Lave Winterhawks (4-7-1).
Nico Avveduti, Gerald Desjarlais, Ashton Pietersma and Joshua Lafleche scored and Chris Sharkey (5-3, 3:38 GAA) stopped a game-high 33 shots in the team’s fourth win in six games.
The St. Albert Flyers settled for a tie Sunday’s home game in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League.
The Rockyview Raiders of Okotoks scored with 1:35 remaining to salvage a 4-4 draw after goals by Cole Sadownyk and Zach Carlson (power play) in the third period put the Flyers on top.
Brett Miller and Ryan Deets (power play) also found the back of the net and David Cloutier chipped in with two assists against the Raiders (8-3-6), ranked third in the south division.
The Flyers outshot the visitors 43-31 and Mitchell Reidy (4-2-2, 2.38 GAA) was in net.
The Flyers (9-5-3) are fourth in the north division after going 3-2-1 during their six-game homestand. The team’s home record is 6-4-1.
This weekend the Flyers travel to play the Lethbridge Hurricanes (3-13-2) and SEAC Tigers (2-14-1) of Medicine Hat, the bottom two teams in the south standings.
