Drayton Valley Thunder vs Lloydminster Bobcats Friday November. 1st, 2019
Written by: Tyler Campbell
It?s a cliché, but it?s the truth; you have to learn how to win. Right now, the Lloydminster Bobcats are learning how to win. The problem with that is there are some painful lessons along the way. Friday night at the Centennial Civic Centre might have been the most painful lesson along that road yet, as the Bobcats lost a big game to the Drayton Valley Thunder 3-2 in overtime.
The night started off the right way. Chad MacLean got the opening goal just 2:05 in, and added another at 12:28 of the first, and the Bobcats not only held a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, but frankly dominated the 1st period of play. The Thunder were having a lot of problems handling the Bobcats speed and fore-check, and it looked as though the Cats were on their way to their first home victory of the season.
Over the next 40 minutes, little by little the Thunder gathered momentum. Drayton Valley cut the lead to 2-1 on the power play as Hayden Wagner took a great feed from Jeremy Klessens and ripped a shot past Josh Dias. It remained 2-1 Bobcats as they entered the 3rd, and just like last Friday night they?d start the 3rd with the man advantage. Things looked good.
But after the man advantage failed to produce anything, the Thunder began to take the game over. Finally at 11:52 of the 3rd, Jake Aston tied it up for the Thunder, and it would stay tied through 60 minutes of play. However all that was needed was an extra 19 seconds as Brendan Kuny and Kadyn Chabot for the Thunder quickly got a 2 on 1. Kuny fed Chabot and the Thunder would walk away with the extra point in a 3-2 victory.
?We came out with a lot of jump in our game, played some fast hockey, got the puck to the net and we were rewarded for that? coach Nigel Dube said. ?But then we?re killing 6 of the first 9 minutes of the 2nd, and you don?t get the flow back that you had in the first. And then in the 3rd we sat back rather than push for another one, and it cost us.? The Cats do have an opportunity for redemption as they meet the Thunder again tonight at the Civic Centre. Dube knows that his team has more to give. ?We know we can get 16 shots a period, we just did it. We know we can score two goals in a period, we just did it. It?s not that we?re not capable, we just sat back too much in the 2nd and 3rd.?
Puck drop for tonight?s rematch with the Thunder is 7:30. As always, if you can?t make it down to the Civic Centre, Shane Tomayer and myself will have the action for you on Hockey TV or on the MixLR app.