After two weekend wins, including a victory in overtime, the Drayton Valley Thunder finished the exhibition season at the top of the AJHL’s South Division.
On Sept. 12, the Thunder toppled the Fort McMurray Oil Barons 5-4 at home.
Fort McMurray led the action in the first frame, establishing a 3-0 lead.
Drayton Valley’s George Monaghan answered just 54 seconds into period two, bringing it to 3-1. Lachlan Staniforth assisted.
At 14:20, the Oil Baron Ethan Makokis earned a double minor for high sticking. While on the man advantage, Boris Sigachev netted a second point for Drayton to make it 3-2, with help from Damian Hill and Keston Beagle.
Hill netted another power play goal for the Thunder with two seconds left in the frame to tie things up 3-3. The helpers went to Ethan Hunter and Dylan Snelgrove.
The third period saw Fort McMurray score again at 7:06 and return to a 4-3 lead, but with assistance from Brant Caswell and Kolton Bigras, Monaghan tied it again at 4-4 about three minutes later.
That tie sent the game into overtime, where Hill secured an unassisted tie-breaker for the Thunder just 46 seconds in.
Drayton Valley was just as successful Sunday night, winning 4-2 over the Devon Xtreme.
The Thunder’s Beagle and Will Jamieson assisted Reid Rabinovitch to score the first goal of the game at 5:55 for a 1-0 score.
Then, at 8:48, Cooper Orrell went to the box for the Xtreme for tripping, putting Drayton Valley on the man advantage. Hill scored, with assistance from Taynton Lavender and Daniel Zhou, to make it 2-0.
Devon then narrowed that lead to 2-1 with 23 seconds left in the frame
Although no team scored in period two, plenty of penalties were doled out.
At 11:15, two Xtreme players and the Thunder’s Lavender earned roughing minors. About one minute later, Devon’s Jeremy Moellenbeck also skated to the box for roughing, followed by Nolan Eastwood for a misconduct major.
At 14:17, two more minors were given to the Xtreme’s Mason Renaud and Drayton’s Colson Ganser. The Thunder’s Grant Gliege also earned two more minors later in the frame.
Period three saw better momentum, with Dylan Snelgrove netting a third point for Drayton Valley, boosting their lead to 3-1. Ryan Schrock and Loughlan McMullan assisted.
The Xtreme scored again at 10:26 to make it 3-2, but with 1:05 left in the match, an unassisted empty-netter from Drayton’s Keston Beagle secured the 4-2 win.
The Thunder start the regular season in Olds to take on the Grizzlys at 7 p.m. on Sept. 18.
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