PHOTO: Target Photography
Brandon Funk played the overtime hero on Saturday night as the Spruce Grove Saints capped off 2025 with an exclamation point in earning a 3-2 victory over the Crusaders in Sherwood Park at Randy Rosen Rink.
A low scoring affair in the opening 20 minutes saw the Crusaders collect the lone goal of the period as Maxime Ly banked a centering pass intended for Danick St. Pierre that deflected off a Saint defender in front of the net and slid past the blocker side of Ryan De Kok in the Saints net to give Sherwood Park the early advantage just over a minute and a half into the game.
De Kok turned aside five of the six shots he faced in the opening period of play which included a pair of breakaways and a big stop shorthanded on Quincy Supprien to keep the deficit at one goal while Spruce Grove fired 10 shots toward Jack Scali in the Sherwood Park net who was up to the task on each of the shots he faced in the opening frame.
The Saints got back into the game with a strong second period and used a Tre Peck goal to get the score on even terms with his 9th goal of the season. Peck took the puck away in front of the Crusaders net from a defender and outwaited Scali on the blocker side before tucking the puck past him and over the goal line just over four minutes into the period that saw the score even at 1-1.
Spruce Grove took their first lead of the hockey game in the 3rd period with Ben Buckley delivering the go-ahead marker at the 6:37 remaining in the final regulation frame. Buckley took a long stretch pass from Michael Azzarone at the blue line and worked his way into the offensive zone, snapping a shot low to the glove side of Scali for his 6th goal of the season and getting the Saints ahead by a marker.
With the net empty and a power play late in regulation, the Crusaders squared the game at 2-2 just past the final minute on a scramble at the front of the net with Brant Romaniuk having the puck pop to him on the blocker side of De Kok and sliding the puck over the goal line to tie the game and force the extra period.
After ringing the post on a shot earlier in the overtime period, Brandon Funk took a feed from Tre Peck in the left face-off circle and wired a one-time shot past a diving Scali to give him his 11th goal of the season and a clinching overtime victory as the Saints collected a 3-2 road win in Sherwood Park.
Spruce Grove will be off for the Holiday Break and return to action on Friday, January 2nd as they get set to take on the Prince George Spruce Kings at Thompson Family Arena to kick-off a back-to-back set on home ice to open 2026. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM with tickets available for purchase online at tickets.sgsaints.ca.
