PHOTO: Mark Bell
Spruce Grove turned the clock back to the Mets era of play and battled hard but fell in a 5-2 decision to the Sherwood Park Crusaders on Friday night at Thompson Family Arena.
After a Crusaders power play goal to open the game, Brandon Funk pushed Spruce Grove back into an even score with his 9th goal of the season and his fifth against the Crusaders this season. Funk collected a rebound at the front of the net after bouncing off of Adam Perron and buried a shot past the glove hand side of the right-handed catching Filip Vavro to get Spruce Grove back into a tie game to head into the 2nd period.
Spruce Grove took their first lead of the contest with Carson Lloyd collecting his 5th tally of the year to give the home side a 2-1 advantage early in the middle frame. Lloyd moved down the right side and let a shot go from the top of the right face-off circle that hit the right post of Vavro and bounced behind him and in the net to give Spruce Grove the lead at the 2:30 mark of the 2nd period.
The Crusaders worked their way back into the game and evened the score with Bode Sampair collecting the marker and making the game 2-2. Forcing a turnover inside of the offensive zone, Sampair swept a puck through the legs of Ryan De Kok in the Saints net to get the game tied.
Sherwood Park took their second and final lead of the hockey game with Kent Moors burying a power play goal with just five seconds remaining in the 2nd period that gave the Crusaders a one-goal cushion into the final frame with his right point shot having eyes for the back of the net and beating a mass of humanity in front of De Kok to sneak in the blocker side of the goaltender.
Maxime Ly tallied a 3rd period marker to give Sherwood Park a two-goal edge before Quincy Supprien added an empty net tally that forced the Crusaders ahead by a 5-2 score, the eventual final score.
The Saints are back in action on Saturday night as they travel to Okotoks to battle the Oilers for the third time this season with puck drop set for 7:05 PM at Viking Rentals Centre. The game will be broadcasted live on the Saints Radio Network as well as streamed online on FloHockey.
