Golden Bears Hockey extend win streak over MacEwan to 11-0
The University of Alberta Golden Bears crush the Griffins in a 6-3 win carrying them to first in Canada West.
Fair Frames | Game 1 | Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 |
| Golden Bears | 4 Goals: Laventure, McClennon, Preziuso (PP), Tschigerl Assists: Lajoie (x3), de la Gorgendiere (x2), Ward, Smallwood (x2) | 1 Goals: Laventure (PP) Assists: Thacker | 1 Goals: Ward Assists: Florchuk, Thacker |
| Griffins | 0 | 2 Goals: Pasemko, Sundar (PP) Assists: Chabot, Simard, Tallman, Boyle | 1 Goals: Scott (PP) Assists: Pasemko, Cabana |
Friday night’s game on November 8 took the Golden Bears’ win streak over the MacEwan Griffins to 11-0, and the Bears to first in Canada West. To add to another healthy win was defensemen Joel Sexsmith, who returned to the Bears lineup to start his regular season.
The Bears gain a strong lead and work to maintain it
The Bears sure know how to start a game the right way by scoring twice on their first two shots. After back-to-back goals from Tyson Laventure and Tyler Preziuso, the Griffins just could not catch up to the Bears’ explosive offensive lineup.
The Bears were able shut down any turnover possibilities on the power play, an area of strength for the team. Generating two more back-to-back goals from Connor McClennon and Western Hockey League (WHL) grad of the month, Sean Tschigerl.
After letting in four goals, the Griffins pulled their goalie Brett Epp in favour of Eric Ward. While, he didn’t let any goals in, he did get a penalty for roughing with 30 seconds left in the first.
Throughout the second, the Bears lost some of their momentum that gave them a 4-0 lead to end the first period. They gave up two goals after scoring on the power play.
Despite this blemish, fans saw consistent pressure from defensemen Aidan de la Gorgendiere, Mason Ward, and Marc Lajoie. Leading to a dispraportionate amount of time spent in the Bears’ offensive zone throughout the first half of the second.
After giving up their second goal of the night, the Bears put more energy behind their plays and increased their pressure on the Griffins to end the second.
A fast paced third takes the game over the edge
After coming back from a sloppy second period, the Bears applied an insane amount of pressure over the Griffins. This created a fast-paced game that fans have come to expect while doing an overall consistent job of keeping the puck moving in between zones.
Between Brett Hyland and Tschigerl, MacEwan’s goalie could not catch a break. The two forwards barrelled the puck into the offensive zone in attempt to push out more goals to end the third.
On the last penalty kill of the night, the Bears gave up their third goal of the game and their second goal against on the shorthand.
The Bears finished the game on an offensive push to drive home the win.
Crucial players secure the win for the Bears
Throughout the game, Tschigerl never slowed down, consistently rushing in between zones to drive the play. With this, the Canada West scoring leader created countless opportunities during the game.
With an insane three assists to start the first, Lajoie proved to be one of the Bears’ most valuable stay at home defensemen. While he stayed deep during the first period, Lajoie recognized the need to keep the puck out of the neutral zone during the last two periods. As a result, his positional awareness buried the puck in the Bears’ offensive zone.
Of course we can’t talk about assists without mentioning the Canada West leader in the category, de la Gorgendiere. Like Lajoie, de la Gorgendiere helped carry the team to an insane 4-0 first period.
With two goals and the first goal of the game, Laventure set the tone of the Bears’ win. Despite a rocky second, Laventure capitalized on the power play to save the period. This kept the Bears’ power play record at best in the league.
With a 6-3 win, the Bears will look to maintain this momentum during Saturday night’s game against the Griffin’s.
