The Drayton Valley Thunder wrapped up a five-game road trip with three games over the weekend.
On Friday, they lost 4-1 to Fort McMurray, then picked up 3-1 wins over Bonnyville and Lloydminster on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
On Friday, the Oil Barons scored three unanswered goals in the first period to take a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Mason Finley scored first at 4:20, his eighth of the season with assists from Justin Dumais and Carter Schmidt.
Patani Mutambo scored next for Fort McMurray at 9:46, his fourth of the season with help from Carter Schmidt.
Then Carter Schmidt made it 3-0 at 19:55, when he scored his 13th of the season, with Ryan Arnold and Justin Dumais chipping in the assists.
Fort McMurray outshot Drayton Valley 10-7 after 20 minutes.
In the second period, the Thunder got on the board when Justin Ivanusec scored his second goal of the season at 8:58, with Luke Marley and Jace Moffatt earning the assists.
The Oil Barons Justin Dumais then made it 4-1 at 18:28 of the middle frame with Ryan Arnold and Griffin Gidney adding the assists.
Fort McMurray outshot Drayton Valley 15-14 in the second period.
There was no scoring in the third period, with the Oil Barons outshooting Drayton Valley 13-9 in the final period and 38-30 overall.
Thunder goaltender Nicholas Cristiano stopped 34 of 38 shots against him, while Fort McMurray netminder Vincent Filion stopped 29 of 30 shots against.
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Saturday’s game started with Anton Yatsyshin taking an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty just 1:53 into the first period, leading to a power play goal from Porter Byrd-Leitner at 2:11 to give the Pontiacs an early 1-0 lead.
At the end of the first period, the Drayton Valley Thunder had outshot the Bonnyville Pontiacs 7-5 but the Pontiacs took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Jace Moffatt tied the game for the Thunder 4:11 into the second period with a power play goal. Marco Oliviero and Gabriel Filion were credited with the assists on Moffatt’s fifth goal of the season.
Thunder forward Tucker Tullikopf then scored his fifth goal of the season, unassisted, at 14:38.
At the end of the second period, the Drayton Valley Thunder had outshot the Bonnyville Pontiacs 11-6 and took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
Kohyn Pipke scored the only goal of the third period, unassisted, at 18:29 to secure the 3-1 win for the Thunder. That was Pipke’s fifth goal of the season.
At the end of the third period, the Bonnyville Pontiacs had outshot the Drayton Valley Thunder 7-6 but the Thunder outshot the Pontaics 24-18 in total.
Bonnyville Pontiacs’ goaltender Ryley Budd made 21 saves on the 24 shots he faced.
Drayton Valley Thunder’s goaltender Hudson Perry made 17 saves on the 18 shots he faced.
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The Thunder played the last game of their five-game road trip on Sunday, Jan. 12, in Lloydminster with another 3-1 win against the Bobcats.
Kade Fendelet scored the only goal of the game for the Bobcats 14:38 into the first period. Fendelet’s 13th goal of the season was scored unassisted.
At the end of the first period, the Lloydminster Bobcats had outshot the Drayton Valley Thunder 16-10 and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Tucker Tullikopf tied the game for the Thunder with his sixth goal of the season at 15:47 of the second period. Jace Moffatt was credited with the assist on Tullikopf’s goal.
Moffatt then scored his sixth goal of the season at 16:00 with assists from Nolan Phare and Justin Ivanusec.
At the end of the second period, the Lloydminster Bobcats had outshot the Drayton Valley Thunder 16-11 but the Thunder took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
Justin Ivanusec scored an empty net goal at 19:47 of the third period to secure the 3-1 victory for the Thunder. Ivanusec’s third goal of the season was assisted by Taynton Lavender.
The Drayton Valley Thunder outshot the Lloydminster Bobcats 15-10 in the third period but the Bobcats outshot the Thunder 42-36 in total.
Lloydminster Bobcats’ goaltender Connor Graham made 33 saves on the 35 shots he faced.
Drayton Valley Thunder goaltender Hudson Perry made 41 saves on the 42 shots he faced.
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With these wins, the Drayton Valley Thunder now have a record of 14-14-3-3, placing them fifth in the AJHL South Divison and ninth in the overall league standings.
The Thunder are back home on Friday, Jan. 17, as they take on the Calgary Canucks.
Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. and tickets can be purchased on the Drayton Valley Thunder website.
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