Special teams were the story Friday night in Sherwood Park, as the Crusaders sent the Lloydminster Bobcats to their fourth straight loss.
Now tied for top spot in the Viterra North Division, the Cru used three power-play goals and one short-handed marker to get past the Bobcats 6-2.
in a day that saw a whirlwind of emotions from the parting of way between the team and former Head Coach/General Manager Travis Clayton, to Lance Ward and Kyle Tapp joining Chris St. Jacques behind the bench, to the game itself it was a long day for the Cats, but they were able to get the game started the right way.
Although on the penalty kill, Tucker Scantlebury carried the puck into the offensive zone and snapped a wrist shot past Carter Gylander to give Lloydminster a 1-0 lead just 2:30 into the game.
However, the lead was very short lived as just 22 seconds later, on the same power-play, a loose puck bounced to Carter Savoie who beat Cale Elder from in tight to tie the game 1-1.
With the game still equalized at a goal a piece, the Crusaders netted a short-handed goal of their own 1:25 into the second frame to take their first lead.
Garrett Clegg then added to the lead four minutes later to make it 3-1.
Not long before the midway point of the middle frame, Bobcat’s rookie Hunter Lamb deflected home his 7th goal of the season to pull the Cats within one.
Before Lloydminster could get to the intermission, the Cru restored the two goal advantage scoring their second power-play goal of the contest.
Neither time was able to find the back of the net in the third until the end of the frame when Sherwood Park put home two empty-net goals to secure a 6-2 win.
The Cru went on to outshoot the Bobcats 35-24, with Elder making 29 saves on 33 shots, and Gylander stopping 22 shots.
The Cats went 0 for 6 with the man-advantage, with the Crusaders finishing 3 for 7.
Next up for Lloydminster is a Saturday night date at home with the Olds Grizzlys.
