It was an up-and-down week on the road for the Lloydminster Bandits in the Northeastern Alberta Junior B Hockey League.
Read more: Bisons hand Bandits their first setback
The Bandits clawed back with a 6-2 victory over the Killam Wheat Kings on Saturday night, after suffering an 11-3 setback last Thursday at the hands of the first-place Vermilion Tigers.
Lloydminster has a 9-3 record and is tied in points with the Wainwright Bisons (8-1-2). Both of those second-place teams are four points behind Vermilion, which is setting the pace with an 11-2 slate.
At Killam Memorial Arena, Lloydminster bounced back from an early 2-0 deficit to even the score before the first period ended. The Bandits went on to net four more goals in the second.
Maddux Woodbury, with three points, and Adryan Bugiera each scored two goals for Lloyd. Woodbury has 10 goals and 13 points after 12 games, while Bugiera has eight goals and 12 points in as many games.
Cayden Wildeman and Corvan Stewart also scored for the Bandits on Saturday. Cash Parkin picked up two assists to give the rookie forward nine points in as many games.
Ethan Edwards faced 55 shots in the Killam net, while Lloyd’s Shae Stewart blocked 31 of the 33 shots that came his way.
Drew Petiot and Dylan Kruchten scored for the Wheat Kings.
Two nights earlier, Lloyd ran into trouble at Vermilion Stadium as the Tigers broke open a 2-2 game with four consecutive goals in the final six minutes of the first period.
Vermilion stretched that advantage to 9-2 in the second period, en route to its eight-goal rout.
Tigers forward Cade Meiklejohn continued his dominant season atop the league scoring race. Including his four-goal performance against Lloyd, Meiklejohn has 15 goals and 23 points in 13 games.
In a penalty-filled game, Vermilion’s Kaden Davidson collected five assists, while two Tigers bagged three points each: Jaxson Toutant (2-1) and Parker Vaughan (1-2).
Rogan Macnab, Dannon Pavka and Austin Siewert each posted a goal and an assist, while Cash Capjack also scored for Vermilion.
The Tigers connected twice on the power play and three times while shorthanded.
For the Bandits, Woodbury netted power-play and short-handed goals, while Cohen Aultman opened all scoring with an even-strength tally.
Vermilion chased Lloyd starting goalie Haden Heide early in the second period. Heide gave up eight goals on 13 shots before being replaced by Shae Stewart, who allowed five goals on 22 shots.
Aiden Fox made 25 stops in the Tigers’ net.
In other weekend action, Wainwright posted a pair of victories — 9-3 over the Vegreville Rangers (0-12) on Friday and 4-0 against the St. Paul Canadiens (3-7) on Saturday.
Vermilion doubled St. Paul 4-2 on Friday, while the Cold Lake Ice (6-5) chilled Vegreville 6-3 on Saturday.
This weekend, Lloydminster visits St. Paul on Friday, before hosting Vegreville on Saturday.
Vermilion hits the road for a Friday game at Cold Lake. Elsewhere, Vegreville visits Killam on Friday, while other Saturday games see Killam in St. Paul and Wainwright at Cold Lake.
The Bisons also play a rare Monday night game as they host Killam at Wainwright Peace Memorial Multiplex on Remembrance Day eve.
Read more: Bandits tame Tigers, Wheat Kings to stay perfect
