The Lloydminster Bobcats beat the Drumheller Dragons 5-4 on Nov. 23 in a very physical game.
The Bobcats (13-9-1-2) hit the ice riding the high of Friday’s 6-3 home win over the Calgary Canucks (14-7-1-1).
Bobcats rookie Kael Screpnek got things going on Saturday with two first-period goals. The first came at 3:23, the second at 13:07. Teammate Kaiden Wiltsie made it a 3-0 game at 14:30 in the first before Drumheller’s Reily Pickford got the Dragons on the board at 17:57.
The second period saw a goal from Drumheller’s Devon Windser at 7:43 before Lloydminster’s Zack Birch made it a 4-2 game at 8:44 in the second.
Drumheller made it a 4-3 game with an Ayden Peters’ goal at 12:22 in the third. Bobcats captain, Jamie Weller, once again put the ‘Cats ahead by two at 13:53 before Bradley Gallo got the Dragons within one, again.
The 5-4 win also gives the ‘Cats a confidence boost for Nov. 29 when the top-ranked Grande Prairie Storm come to town.
Bobcats first-year assistant coach, Matt Brassard, said the team’s physicality was on full display on Saturday.
“It was probably the most physical game we’ve had all season. It’s good to see our guys in a game like that because I don’t think we’ve had many like it this year. On top of that, it was close,” said Brassard.
“They battled all the way to the end, and we did a good job holding in there.”
The once-0-6 Bobcats now tote a 13-9-1-2 record. Brassard credits the recent wins to contributions from the entire team.
“We’re not a one or two-line team, we have four lines that can go, and they’ve been going every single night,” said Brassard.
“It’s something we have an identity of, and it’s hard to play a team in this league with four good lines.”
“There are some teams that are top heavy, and I think our strength is our depth. We’ve got four solid forward lines, defencemen that can handle everybody, and (Kaiden) Kirkwood is solid in the pipes.”
The wins were extra special as it was the team’s annual family weekend. Parents of players travelled from near and far to watch their kids play the sport they love, in a city that was new to many athletes not long ago.
“It was awesome,” said Brassard when asked about the wins in front of family.
“They were all here on Friday, too, but we honoured them before tonight’s game.”
“The boys were all fired up. Of course, you want to get a win in front of your parents, and we put in two great performances this weekend.”
The Bobcats are back at the Centennial Civic Centre to host Grande Prairie tonight at 7 p.m.
Read more: Gallery: Bobcats beat Dragons 5-4
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