The St. Albert Merchants put the D back in defence and let the offence do the rest in Friday’s win against the Spruce Grove Regals.
The Merchants kept the Regals in check until the third period in the 3-1 decision at Akinsdale Arena after giving up nine goals on 20 shots in the team’s first loss of the season, 9-8 to the Edmonton Mustangs on Sept. 28 at Bill Hunter Arena.
“We played really well defensively and didn’t let them get as many good high-quality shots as the game before,” said assistant captain Taylor Wiebe.
William Fink stopped 25 of 26 shots by the Regals (1-5) after letting in four goals on eight shots in the last 28 minutes against the Mustangs (4-1-1).
The teams combined for seven power play goals in the scoreathon. It was 2-2 after the first, 7-3 Mustangs after two periods and in the third they led 9-6 with under nine minutes to play.
“It just seemed like everything that both teams shot went in. It was one of those more or less shot-for-shot kind of games. It was weird,” Wiebe said. “It was just one of those ones you have to hopefully forget about and then come out like we did Friday and get back into the win column.”
Braeden Farge and Jordan MacPhee scored in the first period and MacPhee’s fourth goal of the season made it 3-0 in the second.
The Merchants directed 33 shots at netminder Jordan Greenfield.
“We played unreal in everything we did. We shot pucks on net. We just outplayed them,” Wiebe said of the team’s fourth win in five games to start the season off.
Last season the Merchants didn’t suffer a loss in regulation time until the 14th game, en route to a first-place 34-3-1 record.
“It’s been really good so far. We’ve had a couple guys come in and out and we’ve got some injuries already but for the most part the team is looking really strong,” said Wiebe.
The third-year Merchant is one of 15 returning players from the 2014 Founders Cup finalists in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
The fourth-place team at provincials finished 45-11-1 overall.
“The mentality around the room is that we want to keep going like we did last year so hopefully that’s what happens. If it keeps going the way we’re going, it should all be good,” said Wiebe, who joins defenceman Karmen Ward and forwards A.J. Yariwon and Mike Roeleveld as the team’s four over-age (21-year-old) players.
The hulking right winger rode shotgun on a line with newcomers Farge and Zach Gonek against the Regals and picked up an assist on Farge’s goal for his first point of the season.
“I make sure nobody is messing around with us too much,” said Wiebe, who accumulated 74 minutes in penalties last season and after four games he already has 47 PIM. “That’s not good but that happens sometimes.”
Tonight the Merchants play the Beverly Warriors (3-1) at 8 p.m. at Londonderry Arena. The Merchants eliminated Beverly in the best-of-five west division quarter-finals the last two seasons.
“It’s definitely a rival team for sure. We just have to do the same things we did Friday and if we play really good defensively our offence normally takes care of itself,” said Wiebe, who recorded 16 goals and 22 points in 30 games in 2013/14.
Friday the Merchants travel to Beaumont to face-off against the Chiefs (2-3) at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday they tangle with the North Edmonton Red Wings (1-3-1) at 8 p.m. at Londonderry.
