The season is over for the St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
The SSAC Southgate Lions edged the Sabres 2-1 Thursday at Akinsdale Arena to sweep the best-of-three nitro north division playoff series.
SSAC opened the scoring in the second period and made it 2-0 on the power play with 8:20 gone in the third.
Jack Langenhahn replied for the Sabres with 18 seconds to play.
Penalties plagued the Sabres in the contest.
The Sabres were outshot 12-5 in the third and 34-19 overall. In net was Nate Reinhart.
In the 7-3 series opener Tuesday at Confederation Arena, SSAC scored four times in the last 10 minutes of the first to lead 4-2 and added a pair in the second to make it 6-2.
SSAC was credited with 30 shots.
It was 1-0 Sabres on Aiden Steinke’s marker when an apparent St. Albert goal was waved off.
Liam Peyton and Zach Marano also potted goals and Lucus Palladino had two assists.
Chris Curr let in four goals on 16 shots in 18 minutes of the first frame and Reinhart recorded 15 saves on 18 shots.
In the nitro standings SSAC finished first 28-41 and the Sabres were fourth at 17-12-4.
The Sabres beat the SSAC 5-3 in October, then lost three games to the three-time defending AMBHL champions and 2013 western Canadian gold medallists by scores of 3-2, 4-3 and 6-5.
Sydney Williams stopped 20 shots as the St. Albert Slash shut out the Spruce Grove PAC Saints 4-0 in Wednesday’s playoff opener in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League.
Jamie Jones and Sutton Foster scored in the first period and Breanna Jones notched goals in the second and third frames at the Tri Leisure Centre.
Jenna Jewell and Morgan Loroff finished with two assists apiece.
Game two in the best-of-three north division series was played Friday in St. Albert but the score was unavailable at press time.
Game three, if needed, is Sunday at 10:45 a.m. at Grant Fuhr Arena.
In league play the teams split the four-game series as the Saints (9-15-8) finished fourth and the Slash (6-21-5) placed fifth out of six teams.
The St. Albert teams in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League play their last games Saturday before the playoffs start Tuesday.
The Blues (23-6-2) skate against SSAC Lakewood Chevrolet (22-5-4) at 2:45 p.m. at Confederation Arena and the Crusaders (22-3-6) visit the Westaskiwin Ice Kings (11-16-3) at 7 p.m.
The Crusaders are the top team in the Clean Harbours division and are second overall in the 29-team circuit behind the KC Colts (28-0-4) from the Inside Edge division.
The Blues are tied for second in the Inside Edge standings.
The Crusaders were undefeated in 20 games – 15 wins and five ties since losing 6-4 to KC on Oct. 24 – before dropping a 4-1 decision to Lakewood Chevrolet on Feb. 9.
The Crusaders are led offensively by Curtis Peck’s 29 goals and 69 points in 28 games and Cam Mazur’s 34 goals and 66 points in 30 games.
Emerson Eady (8-1-2, 2.49 GAA) and Connor Mckay (13-2-3, 2.51 GAA) are ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, among NCHL netminders.
The Blues are winners of seven straight after losing 6-3 to KC on Jan. 13 in Edmonton.
Jake Mercier leads the Blues with 47 assists and 60 points in 31 games.
Eamon Moloy has scored a team-high 26 goals in 23 games and Devyn Myck has 23 goals in 22 games. Moloy is second in points with 44, one more than Myck’s totals.
Keaton Aubin (12-3-2, 2.82 GAA) and Adam Gallagher (11-3, 2.76 GAA) are the Blues netminders.
The St. Albert Raiders are back on the ice this weekend after a break in the Alberta Major Bantam Female Hockey League schedule with two games on tap at Northstar Hyundai Arena.
The Raiders (4-10-5) host the Calgary Rangers (7-9-4) today at 2:15 p.m. and the Peace Country Storm (9-9-2) Sunday at 11 a.m.
The Raiders, ranked fourth out of five teams in the north division, are 0-3-3 in 2014.
