The Drayton Valley Thunder split a pair of games on home ice over the weekend, losing to the Calgary Canucks 7-1 Friday night, but edging out the Fort McMurray Oil Barons 5-4 Saturday evening.
Friday’s game saw no scoring in the first period, with Drayton Valley outshooting Calgary 13-10 after 20 minutes.
The second period, however, saw plenty of action with the Canucks hitting the scoresheet first at 2:40, when Jack Plandowski scored his 10th of the season with help from Riley Bracko and Nolan Dupont to make it 1-0 for the visitors.
Less than a minute later, Plandowski scored his second goal of the game and 11th of the season at 3:07, when he lit the lamp again, thanks to help from Riley Bracko to make it 2-0 Calgary.
Then a power play opportunity for the Canucks led to Plandowski’s third goal of the game and 12th of the season at 9:48, to complete the hattrick. Nolan Dupont and Adam Leitch were credited with the assists this time, making it 3-0.
The Thunder were finally able to respond at 10:46, however, when Cooper Brown scored his seventh of the season, with assists coming from Tucker Tulikopf and Jace Moffatt, making it 3-1.
Calgary would add another one before the end of the period though, when Alexey Trischuk scored his first of the season at 17:09, thanks to helpers from Rhett Melnyk and Nolan Dupont to make it a 4-1 game heading into the second intermission.
Calgary outshot Drayton Valley 22-12 in the second period, and led 32-25 on the shot clock to that point.
The third period saw Calgary score three more unanswered goals, starting with Logan Murray notching his first of the season at 6:09, thanks to assists from Jack Plandowski (who was having himself a stellar evening), and Riley Brack who was having a good night as well.
Hayden Fechner then made it a 6-1 game when he scored his fifth of the season at 7:48, thanks to helpers from Gavin Schmidt and Wade Wallace.
Rhett Melnyk finished off the game’s scoring at 15:51 of the final frame, potting his fifth of the season with assists coming from Riley Bracko and Nolan Dupont.
Calgary netminder Lukas Renaud stopped 35 of 36 shots on goal, while Drayton Valley’s Cameron Doucette stopped 38 of 35.
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Saturday night brought a better result for the Thunder though, despite Fort McMurray getting on the board first at 3:55 of the opening frame to make it 1-0 for the visitors.
It was Charles-Olivier Villeneuve’s third goal of the season and came unassisted.
Drayton Valley’s Ben Winkelmann tied the game 1-1 when he scored his third of the season at 7:31, thanks to helpers from Ben Buckley and Taynton Lavender.
After 20 minutes, shots were tied 12-12.
Ryan Arnold gave the Oil Barons a 2-1 lead early in the second period when he scored his second of the season, on the power play, with Alexis Beaulac assisting on the play.
Harper Lolacher tied it back up from Drayton Valley though when he scored his fourth of the season at 5:08, to make it 2-2. Tucker Tulikopf and Matthew Gallant added the assists.
The back-and-forth continued, however, when Fort Mac’s Leo Adams scored his second goal of the season, just seconds later at 5:21, giving the visitors a 3-2 lead. Nolan Eastwood and Dustin Good chipped in the assists.
Then a power play opportunity for the Thunder led to Zach Bansley scoring his fifth of the season at 10:08, making it a tie game at 3-3. Ben Winkelmann and Jace Moffatt added the assists.
Drayton Valley would outshoot Fort McMurray 16-15 in the middle frame, and led 28-27 on the shot clock to that point.
The third period saw the Thunder take the lead at 11:51, when Matthias Bessey scored his first of the season, thanks to help from Cooper Brown and Jace Moffatt to make it 4-3.
Cooper Brown then extended that lead to 5-3 when he scored his eighth of the season, an empty netter at 18:55, thanks to assists from Matthias Bessey and Billy Hooson.
The Oil Barons, to their credit, didn’t give up though, as Danny Akkouche scored with just 19 seconds left to make it a 5-4 final. Charles-Olivier Villeneuve was credited with the assist.
Fort McMurray goaltender Vincent Filion stopped 30 of 34 shots on goal, while Drayton Valley netminder Archer Cooke stopped 36 of 40.
The Thunder’s next game is Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, 7:00 p.m. at the Drumheller Memorial Arena against the Dragons.
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