PHOTO: Mark Bell
The Spruce Grove Saints turned back the clock on Sunday afternoon to 1975 as they unveiled their Spruce Grove Mets look and came out of the gate flying but dropped a 4-3 decision in overtime to the Blackfalds Bulldogs at Thompson Family Arena.
Spruce Grove scored two goals on their opening five shots of the hockey game and both came from the same sources: Felix Haibock. The Austrian forward picked up his 10th goal of the season on a stretch pass from James Richards while on the power play that saw him carry the puck in alone and snap a shot through the glove side of Bulldog goaltender Oliver Kiraly before Haibock did almost the exact same thing moments later to push the Saints to a 2-0 lead.
Richards once again spotted Haibock with a pass through the neutral zone as he once again got behind defenders and went from his backhand to his forehand to slip the puck over the goal line and past Kiraly to collect his second tally of the night and push Spruce Grove to an early 2-0 advantage.
The Bulldogs, who came into the game with a league-high 16 wins on the season, did not back down and got back into the game in the final moments of the opening period after a Saints turnover as Nikita Meshcheryakov fired a shot from the right face-off circle that crept over the shoulder of Ryan De Kok in the Spruce Grove goal to get Blackfalds on the board in the final minute.
That momentum carried into the 2nd period as Joey Melo evened the score with a centering pass that banked off a Saints defender and past De Kok while shorthanded to level the score at 2-2 heading into the final period.
Two teams that have played each other close all season long came down to the wire once again and it was Ben Buckley, for the second consecutive game, who pushed Spruce Grove in front by a goal just 57 seconds into the 3rd frame. Buckley threw a puck to the net from the left face-off circle that got through the blocker side of Kiraly for his 3rd goal of the season and allow for the Saints to hold the lead once again.
Blackfalds showed why they are in the top spot in the league with Nikita Ivanschenko getting the Bulldogs back into the game, capitalizing on a Spruce Grove turnover and ripping a shot from in tight past the glove side of De Kok that tied the game and forced it into extra time.
After a couple of Saints chances, it was Thomas Neu for the Bulldogs who ended the game with a slick move at the net and elevating the puck over the shoulders of De Kok to give Blackfalds a come-from-behind victory at 4-3 in overtime. De Kok turned aside 20 of the 24 shots he faced in his 1st overtime loss of the season while Kiraly collected his 9th win of the season with 28 saves on 31 shots.
Spruce Grove is back in action on Friday night as they host the Mainland’s Surrey Eagles for the first time ever with a 7:00 PM puck drop at Thompson Family Arena. Tickets are available for purchase online at tickets.sgsaints.ca.
