PHOTO: James Maclennan
After being shutout a night ago and just one goal on a goaltender between the two sides, both the Saints and Bucks turned that tide offensively early in the game as Felix Haibock gave the visitors an early advantage under a minute in with a breakaway. Haibock shed past a Bucks defender and roofed a shot over the right shoulder of Josh Scully to give the Saints an early 1-0 lead on his 13th goal of the season.
The Bucks followed that up with a pair of goals in a minute and 20 seconds to tie the game and then take the lead as Cadel Gourlay and Kaslo Ferner found the back of the net just past the midway point of the opening period which gave Cranbrook their first lead of the game at 2-1.
The Saints power play started to click and came courtesy of a familiar face as Josh Polak made a triumphant return to the lineup and picked up his first goal of the night from inside the blue line, sizzling a shot past Scully to tie the game in the late stages of the opening period.
Period two saw the Saints strike three separate times and it was again Polak who converted on the power play with another strong shot, rifling an attempt at the top of the right face-off circle to give Spruce Grove their second lead of the game and push the visitors ahead by a 3-2 score.
Two goals in 12 seconds helped get the Saints ahead by three goals beginning with Scott Sandilands rocketing a shot over the glove side of Scully before Barnes gathered a turnover inside the left blue line and sent the puck over the shoulders of Scully and put the Saints ahead by a 5-2 margin into the 3rd period.
Spencer Rheaume joined the party of goal scoring with his 6th goal of the season in the middle part of the final frame before Josh Polak earned his hat trick marker with a rush down the right wing and popped the water bottle with a high shot to give the Saints a 7-2 lead in the final frame.
Brandon Funk etched his name on the scoresheet with a shot from the left face-off circle and capped off the scoring on a high-octane night for the offense in an 8-2 victory. Joseph Quintilio turned aside 35 of the 37 shots thrown his way in his 8th win of the season while Josh Scully made 13 saves on 18 shots in his 5th loss of the season with Jason Tremblay coming on in relief to make 8 saves on 11 shots.
The Saints return to action on Wednesday night as they are back on home ice at Thompson Family Arena where they will meet the Vernon Vipers for the third time this season. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with tickets available for purchase online at tickets.sgsaints.ca.
