One can use all of the cliches they want, but they don’t matter come Friday.
That’s when the Athabasca Midget B Hawks host the Edson Blades in the deciding game of the Sturgeon Pembina best-of-three league final.
The Hawks took it to Edson in the opening game last Friday night at the Multiplex, posting a rather convincing 6-3 victory.
However, it didn’t start out all that well, with Edson getting the scoring started just four minutes into the game.
Chandlor Andres tied it for the Hawks in the final minute of the first.
“There were chances both ways in the first and we took turns carrying the play,” said Hawks head coach Ron Bay.
Joshua Payuk then took the bull by the horns, giving the Hawks the lead on the very first shift of the middle stanza. He would notch his second of the contest three minutes later to put the Hawks up a pair with less than four minutes gone in the period.
Tyrell Parker would stretch the lead even further with a marker late in the frame, however Bay still wasn’t comfortable.
“Edson had several chances in the second, but (goaltender) Ryan Plat made the save or the post was there as they rang several shots off the iron,” he stated.
Parker would get his second goal of the night near the midway point of the third to make it a four-goal advantage.
Edson scored twice late, before Jayce Matson sealed it with a shorthanded goal with three minutes remaining.
Edson was in penalty trouble most of the night, which factored into the Hawks being able to take the opener of the series.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, that win didn’t provide them with any momentum in Edson on Saturday, where the Hawks lost 8-3 with the difference coming in Edson notching three powerplay goals in the second.
Jordan Epp scored early on to tie the game before Edson went on their scoring streak – including those three powerplay markers.
Krissy Malone scored late in the second to cut the lead to 5-2 and Epp would add another in the third, this time on the powerplay, but that would be as close at the Hawks would get in spite of a strong push in the final frame.
Bay stated they had their chances in the third, but could find the twine, something they need to do Friday night in the deciding game.
That game goes at the Multiplex with puck drop set for 7:15 p.m.
“We have to get the puck deep, as when we tried to carry it in, we were stopped and they broke out the other way,” said Bay.
“We also weren’t able to get the puck out of the slot while on the penalty kill and they capitalized. We also have to bury our chances. We rang one off the post in the first and did not bury two goal-mouth scrambles. Staying out of the box is also a key.”
Bay added that both teams are close and that 5-on-5, the game could go either way.
However, the final game of the season comes at a bad time though for Bay, as he and his family are heading off this week to attend a wedding, meaning both him and his son will miss the game.
