Junior B Merchants
Sunday marks the fourth home game before the playoffs for the St. Albert Merchants in the Capital Junior B Hockey League.Faceoff is 8 p.m. against the Leduc Riggers (14-16-1) at Akinsdale Arena.
The Merchants are 0-3-1 in the last four games on home ice while going 9-6-2 overall. The last win in St. Albert was 7-6 in overtime Dec. 9 against the Stony Plain Flyers (11-18-2).
Friday the Merchants (11-16-4) were the visiting team against the Sherwood Park Knights (21-9-1) but the score was unavailable at press time.
The sixth loss in regulation time in eight games for the Merchants was Wednesday’s 4-1 setback to the Edmonton Mustangs (14-16-2) at Bill Hunter Arena.
It was 3-0 Mustangs when captain Andy Barr scored unassisted with 3:37 to play.
The fourth goal by the Mustangs was an empty netter with 1:32 remaining.
Shots were 10-5 for the Merchants in the third period and 39-22 overall for the Mustangs.
Josh Dechaine (2-2, 2.75 GAA) started his fourth game in a row since joining the Merchants two weeks ago.
The Merchants have six games left after Friday’s contest before the best-of-three qualifying round starts in the west division.
The Merchants entered the weekend ranked fifth, two points ahead of the Flyers and four back of the Mustangs.
Six teams in the west make the playoffs and the top two have first-round byes.
Midget 15 Flyers
The St. Albert Flyers are in Calgary today for an afternoon matinee against CRAA Gold in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League.Puck drop is 4:45 p.m. at Stu Peppard Arena.
The midget 15 Flyers (17-4-3) are second in the north division and CRAA (11-10-4) is fifth in the south standings.
The first loss for the Flyers after a 4-0-1 stretch was 3-2 against the PAC Saints (20-2-1), the top team in the north.
Palmer Strang opened the scoring early in the first period in Wednesday’s chippy affair at Akinsdale Arena.
The Saints replied before the period ended and struck on the power play with 2:56 left in the middle frame. The team’s third goal made it 3-1 on the opening shift of the third.
Dylan Leslie pulled the Flyers to within one with 3:30 to play.
The Saints also killed three five-on-three power plays in the third and final match between the teams before the Sutter North Cup provincial qualifier in March. Previous scores were 5-3 Saints on Oct. 13 and 4-2 Flyers on Dec. 16 and both games were contested in Stony Plain.
Shots were 34-31 for the Flyers with Carson Ironside (8-2-2, 2.49 GAA) tending the twine.
The Flyers are back home Friday against the KC Centennials (0-22) at 8:15 p.m. at Mark Messier Arena.
AFHL Raiders
Sunday the bantam elite St. Albert Raiders host the Edmonton Pandas in the Alberta Female Hockey League.Game time is 8 p.m. at Troy Murray Arena.
The Raiders (3-13-4) were 0-5-3 in eight games, including a 2-1 overtime loss to the Pandas (11-6-2) Dec. 14 at Bill Hunter Arena, before Friday’s contest against the Olds Grizzlys (8-7-3) in St. Albert but the score was unavailable at press time.
The Raiders also suffered home-ice losses this month of 4-2 to the North Central Impact (14-4) and 3-2 to the Peace Country Storm (3-16).
