Before they welcomed a new goaltender this week, the Lloydminster Bobcats won two more games last weekend to extend their AJHL winning streak to four.
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The Bobcats hit the road to face two lower-placed teams in the North Division and came home with a 4-2 victory over the Devon Xtreme on Saturday, after a 4-1 win against the Bonnyville Pontiacs on Friday.
During the third period of Friday’s game, Lloydminster starting goalie Ben Polhill left with an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the weekend. Sam Madgett took over for the final nine minutes of the Bonnyville contest and played the full game the next night to earn the win at Devon.
On Monday, the Bobcats swung a trade to acquire 20-year-old goalie Ty Matonovich from the Weyburn Red Wings of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. In exchange for a player-development fee, Lloyd added a Calgarian whose two seasons in the SJHL included a stint with the Humboldt Broncos.
Matonovich and Madgett form the immediate tandem for the Bobcats in the absence of the injured Polhill, whose status was still being evaluated early this week. Polhill, who leads all AJHL goalies in multiple statistical categories, is “most likely” out of the lineup this weekend, coach Eric Labrosse said Tuesday.
On their family weekend, the Bobcats (12-6) host Bonnyville (8-9) at 7 p.m. Friday and the Grande Prairie Storm (8-9-1) at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
In the completion of a game suspended last month at Bonnyville, the Pontiacs lost 8-4 to Devon (6-7-1) on Tuesday, which was Remembrance Day.
At home to Lloyd on Saturday, Devon came back from a 2-0 deficit as Ben Deacon’s two goals evened the score at 2-2 in the second period. But the Bobcats responded with goals from Tucker Robertson late in the second and Luke Dooley, with an empty-netter in the final minute of the game.
Gus El-Tahhan, on the power play, and Jadon Iyogun, with his 10th of the season, also scored for the Bobcats, while Kael Screpnek had two assists.
Making his first start since late September, the rookie Madgett made 20 saves to record his second win in four full regular-season games as a Bobcat.
“I’m happy for Sam,” coach Labrosse said. “It’s going to boost his confidence to go in there and have a good game, and also finish off the game in Bonnyville. He played the last eight or nine minutes of that game, so that was good for him, to set him up for the next day in Devon. Sam did well for the 68 (or) 69 minutes he played last weekend. Hopefully, it’s going to give him a boost to keep going strong here in practice. He’s always worked hard, always did what he had to do off the ice and powered through, even though he wasn’t playing as much when we were running three goalies.”
Madgett’s former Halifax Macs’ U18 major teammate, Dooley, has been riding a hot streak that included his first AJHL goal Friday at Bonnyville.
Dooley has two goals and seven points in the past seven games, including his maiden goal as he made a pretty deke on Pontiacs goalie Nathan Salisbury.
Jaxan Hopko had thrown another of his big hits at centre ice and moved the puck ahead to Dooley, who has become a regular in the Bobcats’ lineup.
“Luke has been a standout here the last month,” Labrosse said. “In the sense that he went through some harder times at the start of the season, where he was just learning what the (junior A) level was, and through hard work and making sure he’s detailed without the puck, too. And he’s relentless without the puck, he’s cutting down a lot of plays, he’s creating turnovers for the opposition, so it benefits him and his linemates. He’s just a very smart player in reading and reacting on plays, when he’s on the defensive side of the puck, and it creates offensive chances for him and his linemates.”
Robertson, another red-hot Bobcat, scored two goals Friday. He has five goals and eight points in his past six games. Kade Fendelet also scored for Lloyd against Bonnyville, while ex-Bobcat Ben Costantino put the Pontiacs’ lone goal past Polhill. Iyogun assisted on two of Lloyd’s four goals.
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