The Westlock Warriors now sit atop of the North Central Hockey League standings following a hard-fought 4-3 victory on the road over the Morinville Kings Nov. 29.
“Games with Morinville are always going to be tight games as we witnessed now with the one at home and the one on the road,” said Warriors head coach Joe Kuhar referring to the Kings Nov. 7 5-4 overtime victory.
It didn’t take long for the Warriors to get on the board as Nathan Brown connected on a pass from Mario Dube, and Joshua Wohland.
But the Kings got that one back early in the second period with a goal of their own. Moments later, the Warriors were back on top after Evan Kuhar connected on a pass from Alexander Belzevick.
Come the third period, Alex Orr opened the scoring, while Kuhar’s second of the night at 13:27 would be the eventual game winner as the Kings managed to net two more before the final buzzer.
The Kings tried desperately to tie the game, but couldn’t beat Warriors goaltender Marcus Johnson before time ran out.
Coach Kuhar credits this game’s success to his team taking less penalties.
“Disciplined defensive hockey is going to make the difference between the battle of two teams,” he said.
The Warriors only went to the box three times, as opposed to Kings who were a man short on five occasions.
With this victory, they now leapfrog the Kings for sole possession of first place with an 8-1 record. They’ll try to extend their winning streak to seven games when take on the Rocky Rams on the road on Dec. 6.
The club’s Nov. 28 home tilt versus Slave Lake was cancelled due to the poor road conditions and will be made up later in the year.
