Slash wins again
The St. Albert Slash beat the Rocky Mountain Raiders for the fourth time this season in the Alberta Female Hockey League.The back-to-back winners of the Esso Cup midget AAA national championship were 8-1-1 overall after Saturday’s 6-1 decision in DeWinton.
Dayle Ross (power play), Alexis Butz, Natalie Kieser, Jenna Goodwin, Madison Willan and Mackenzie Kordic scored on 41 shots while Holly Borrett (5-0, 0.80 GAA) faced 12 shots.
Willan and Riley Smith added two assists apiece.
Willan is the AFHL’s top scorer with 21 points in 10 games and is tied with Kordic for the lead in goals with nine.
The Slash have outscored the Raiders (1-8), the Final Frozen Four provincial silver medallists the last two years, 20-2 in the four games combined.
Tuesday the Slash hosted the Edmonton Pandas (4-7) but the score was unavailable at press time.
Sunday the Slash visit the Red Deer Chiefs (4-5-1) at 1:30 p.m.
Raiders end slump
The first win after six games for the St. Albert Nektar Data Systems Raiders was celebrated Sunday in the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League.The Raiders (5-5-2) had lost four and tied two before the 3-1 outcome against the Calgary Flames (3-8-1) at the sixth annual AMHL Showcase Weekend at Servus Credit Union Place.
Ethan Willans (power play), Kye Buchanan and Mathieu Gautier scored against the last-place team in the south division.
Shots were 33-25 for the Raiders and Evan Fradette (1-2-1, 2.50 GAA) was between the pipes.
The result left the Raiders, tied for third in the north, with a record of 2-4-2 against the south.
The third loss in a row for the Raiders was 6-1 against the Calgary Buffaloes (9-3) Saturday in St. Albert.
Jaxon Dube tied it at one in the first period.
The Raiders were credited with 30 shots while Andreai Proctor-Ramirez (five GA on 24 shots in 36 minutes) and Fradette (one GA on 15 shots) shared net-minding duties.
The Showcase Weekend featured 18 games involving all 18 AMHL teams. Proceeds from the event, hosted by the St. Albert Raiders Hockey Club, supports the AMHL scholarship program.
This weekend the Raiders play at Akinsdale Arena against the KC Pats (4-8) at 8 p.m. Saturday and Fort Saskatchewan Rangers (8-4), the top team in the north, at 1:15 p.m. Sunday.
Merchants bank points
The St. Albert Merchants picked up points in two games over the weekend after losing four straight in regulation time in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.
The Merchants (4-8-2) dropped a 4-3 shootout decision against the Riggers (5-9-1) Friday in Leduc and suffered a 5-4 overtime setback to the Spruce Grove Regals (3-12) Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
The Regals forced the extra period with 17 seconds left in the third.
Cole Gupta (power play) and Ryan Deets scored before the Regals pulled even at the end of the middle frame.
In the third, Bryce Sturm made it 3-2 and Kole Bryks put the Merchants on top 4-3 with 2:36 to play.
The Regals, the last-place team in the west division, capitalized on the power play to knot it at three with 6:14 to go.
The Regals out-shot the Merchants 16-14 in the third and 3-0 in the first minute of OT for an overall margin of 45-39.
Brandon Boughen (1-7, 4.57 GAA) was tagged with the loss and was also in net against the Riggers as the Merchants trailed 3-0 after the opening period.
The Merchants rallied on goals by Gupta, Ryan Cooper and Peter Corrigan as the visitors out-shot the Riggers 4-2 in the five-minute extra period and 49-45 in total.
League play continues Friday for the Merchants against the Edmonton Mustangs (8-5-1) at 8 p.m. in St. Albert.
Jets rising
A season high three-game winning streak lifted the Morinville Jets past the St. Albert Merchants into fifth place in the west division standings.The Jets (5-7-1) knocked off the first-place North Edmonton Red Wings (10-1-1) 4-3 on Tyler Sonnichsen’s overtime winner last Wednesday at Londonderry Arena and the third-place Beverly Warriors (8-5) 7-5 Friday as Luke Hall (3-3, 4.33 GAA) stopped a game-high 47 shots at Ray McDonald Sports Centre before beating the Strathcona Bruins (1-12) 7-1 Sunday .
Lee Gadoury and Ryan Denton potted two goals apiece while Regan Regimbald, Zach Mcrae and Jacob Pink notched singles at Strathcona Olympiette Centre.
Connor Tuppala and Dylan McFatridge chipped in with three assists, and Gadoury and Brett Dubuc had two helpers each.
Dubuc led the team in scoring in the three wins with two goals and seven assists for 14 goals and a league-high 27 points.
Shots were 38-30 against Strathcona, the last-place team in the east division, and Colton Kucher (2-5, 3.26 GAA) was in net.
Friday the Jets visit the Stony Plain Flyers (7-7) at 8:30 p.m. at Glenn Hall Centennial Arena and Sunday’s home game against the Spruce Grove Regals (3-12) starts at 7:30 p.m.
Midget 15 Flyers
The St. Albert Flyers have home-ice advantage tonight in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League.The Flyers (8-2-1) are 4-1 at Akinsdale Arena when the midget 15 team hosts the Maple Leafs (2-7-1) at 7:45 p.m.
The fifth victory in six games for the co-leaders in the north division was Saturday’s 6-4 result against CRAA Blue in St. Albert.
Ethan Sundar struck three times on the power play and the last goal was an empty netter with nine seconds remaining.
Sundar is the AMMHL’s top goal scorer with 13 and shares the lead in points with 23 in 10 games.
The second of two goals by Chase Visser was a power-play marker to make it 4-2 at 4:06 the third period.
Graeme Hampton also scored and David Saunders picked up three assists against CRAA (3-5-3), tied for ninth in the south division.
Shots were 22-16 for CRAA in the third as the teams combined for four goals apiece in the period and 37 overall for both squads. Ethan Kadatz (3-2, 4.21 GAA) of the Flyers was in net.
Sharks shut out
The second loss of the season for the midget elite St. Albert Sharks was also the second against the Sherwood Park Fury in the Alberta Female Hockey League.The Fury blanked the Sharks 4-0 Saturday in Sherwood Park after winning 4-2 Oct. 21 in St. Albert.
The Fury (4-0-2) scored four times in the first period while out-shooting the Sharks 28-15 overall. Layla Hood (3-1, 1.75 GAA) of the Sharks was in net.
Saturday the Sharks (4-2) face off against Calgary Fire White (5-0), the south division leader, in a rematch of the 2018 provincial final that Calgary won 2-0. Puck drop is 2:15 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
Sunday the Sharks host the Peace County Storm (5-0-1), the first-place team in the north, at 1:30 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
