Our Drumheller Dragons had two games on the weekend, one on the road, and one in front of their home crowd.
The weekend started in Devon as the Dragons faced the Xtreme. The Xtreme have battled hard against the Dragons and Friday night would be no different. The Xtreme would open the scoring early with a goal by Jeremy Friesen 1:59 into the game. Drumheller would tie the game 1-1 with Noa Halat getting the puck from Lauchlan Kozicky, cutting in front of the net scoring his second goal of the year at 6:22. The Dragons would take their first lead of the game at 7:18 with Allen Sherpa scoring his 9th of the season, from Sullivan Humeniuk and Wyatt Yule.
Drumheller would out-shoot the Xtreme in the second period by almost a two to one margin but Devon’s goaltender Tyler Swanson would shut the door. Dragons netminder Sean Cootes would also be tested and make some spectacular saves but Devon would tie the game on a powerplay opportunity at 8:01, with Darius Hordal scoring his 4th of the year.
Both teams would have their chances in the third period but nothing would be solved. The game would go to overtime and again both goaltenders kept the game tied, needing a shootout to solve the gridlock. Devon’s first two shooters would score and Drumheller would not answer, giving the Xtreme the shootout win.
On Saturday, the Dragons would go through an identity change. The team would be dressed as the Drumheller Rink Rats as they faced the Canmore Eagles at the Memorial Arena. In front of one of the biggest crowds of the year, the Rink Rats would get on the board first with a powerplay goal by Lauchlan Kozicky (10) from Sullivan Humeniuk and Luca Dufor at 11:11. Drumheller would add to their lead, again on the man advantage with Jensen Marsh scoring his 13th of the season, from Bradley Gallo and Tristan Payne. The Rink Rats weren’t done as Bradley Gallo would pad the lead with his 28th of the season, from Sullivan Humeniuk and Jensen Marsh. The Dragons would take the 3-0 lead into the second period.
Very early in the second, the Rink Rats would add another, with Tristan Payne (7) scoring on the power play, assisted by Jase Johnstone and Bradley Gallo. Canmore would get on the board on the power play with Cohen Daoust scoring his 30th of the year at 6:26, making it 4-1 Rink Rats.
In the third period, Canmore would inch closer with Jonathan Gomez scoring at 7:46, making it 4-2 Drumheller. The Rink Rats would answer just over a minute later at 9:37 as Jase Johnstone scored his 11th of the sesaon, from Jensen Marsh. Drumheller would take the win 5-2 and remain in second place, two points up on Camrose with one game in hand.
The team will return as the Dragons on Tuesday night as they wrap up their road schedule against the first place Canmore Eagles. Game time at the Canmore Recreation Centre is at 7 PM and all the action can be heard on the Home of the Dragons, New Country 92.5 with the Fountain Tire Drumheller Pregame Show at 6:45 PM with Jason Blanke.
Comments