The Warman Wildcats earned a convincing 8-0 victory over the visiting Swift Current Legionnaires in Saskatchewan U18 AAA action at the Legends Centre on November 20.
Wildcats U18 AAA shut out Legionnaires
Assistant Coach Cory Harder was pleased with the win.
“I thought the boys obviously played pretty well,” said Harder. “It was a good all-round effort from the guys.”
The home team poured the pressure on right from the first whistle. Jordan Normand scored a minute and a half into the period. They ended up out-shooting Swift Current 14-2 in the first period.
Swift Current came out stronger to begin the second period.
But they got a little too aggressive when Denyn Smith took a four minute penalty for head contact. He also received a two minute unsportsmanlike penalty.
The Wildcats took advantage of the opportunity and blew the game wide open with power play goals by Jaydon Jessiman, Berg Weber, and Rylan Pearce.
“That definitely was one of the things that got the ball rolling in our direction,” said Harder. “The boys capitalized on that. Obviously we didn’t like what happened to our player. We turned it around and gave it back where it counted.”
Normand scored his second goal of the game with 0.01 seconds left in the period to increase the lead.
In the third frame Warman kept the pressure on with Dustin Renas hitting the twine between a pair of Mason Bueckert goals.
Swift Current goalie Brayden Schenstead, a Warman native, made 40 saves in the return to his hometown.
Warman goaltender Alex Worthington earned home player of the game award after making 21 saves in the shutout win.
The win snapped a two game losing streak for the Wildcats.
“The last couple games didn’t go as planned, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” said Harder. “This game was a good response and gets us ready. We have a big series with a couple really good teams coming into town next weekend.”
The Wildcats are currently in second place in the league, but the fourth-place Saskatoon Blazers and third-place Notre Dame Hounds are hot on their trail.
They take on the Blazers on Friday, November 26 and the Hounds on Saturday, November 27. Both games start at 8:00 p.m. at the Legends Centre.