Sunday the St. Albert Merchants host the Edmonton Royals in the last game before the Capital Junior B Hockey League playoffs.
Faceoff is 8 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
Friday the Merchants were in Beaumont to play the Chiefs but the score was unavailable at press time.
Entering the weekend, the Merchants (17-15-4) were fourth in the west division and the Chiefs (28-7-1) and Royals (28-8) ranked first and second, respectively, in the east standings.
The Merchants were winners of two in a row and four out of six games before Wednesday's 7-2 loss to the Beverly Warriors (22-13-1) at Clareview Arena.
It's the ninth game in which the sixth-worst defensive team (4.64 GAA) in the CJHL allowed seven or more goals this season.
The Merchants were outshot 19-9 in the first period, 19-13 in the second, 24-6 in the third and 62-28 overall as Ryen Papirny (10-11, 4.67 GAA) went the distance in net.
The Warriors, third in the east, capitalized twice on the power play while posting period leads of 2-0 and 3-1.
It was 2-0 when Matt Havens struck at 6:21 of the middle frame with his team-leading 25th goal and 59th point and Sam Milner closed out the scoring with 3:46 remaining.
The Merchants will kick off the playoffs against the fifth-place Stony Plain Flyers (16-18-3) for the second year in a row in the best-of-three west qualifying round and the winner advances to the best-of-five quarter-finals.
The 2016 series ended with Cam Mazur's breakaway winning goal in double overtime for the Merchants in the third and deciding game.
The Merchants are winless in their last three games against the Flyers after the 4-1 victory Oct. 23 in St. Albert. The losses were 4-2 Nov. 23 and 4-3 in overtime Dec. 14 at the Glenn Hall Centennial Arena and 9-5 Jan. 22 in St. Albert.
The St. Albert Tire Warehouse Raiders can tighten their grip on second place in the north division with a win Sunday in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.
Puck drop is 11:45 a.m. against the third-place Southside Athletic Club (14-15-1) at Bill Hunter Arena.
The Raiders (15-13-2) are 6-0-1 their last seven games.
The top two teams in the north receive first-round byes and advance to the best-of-five division semifinals.
The Raiders (15-13-2) have three games remaining after Sunday's contest.
The St. Albert Flyers continue their playoff push tonight in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League.
The first of eight games for the Flyers until the Sutter North Cup provincial qualifier starts at 6:45 p.m. against the Camrose Red Wings (4-15-7) at Akinsdale Arena.
Sunday the midget 15 Flyers (27-1-1) and Canadian Athletic Club (13-13-4) hook up at 6:15 p.m. at Callingwood Arena.
The Sutter North Cup, March 9 to 12 at the Terwillegar and Callingwood arenas, will determine two north division reps for provincials, March 22 to 26 in Grande Prairie.
The last game for the Flyers was Wednesday's 6-1 decision against the Leduc Oil Kings (15-12-2) in St. Albert.
The Flyers are 13-0-1 on home ice.
The application deadline for the Esso Cup Legacy Female Midget Scholarship is April 1.
All midget female players are eligible to apply but have to be a resident of St. Albert or reside within the St. Albert Minor Hockey Association boundaries, should have played in the system for at least two years and are in their last year of midget eligibility.
The $1,000 scholarship will be awarded based on consideration of academic achievement, hockey dedication, commitment and coachability.
A letter of acceptance from an accredited post-secondary institution is required from each applicant before a final decision is made.
For more information, contact Trudy at [email protected].
