Edmonton - One week after, arguably, their most disappointing weekend of the season, the No.5 ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears hockey team rebounded in a big way Friday night at Clare Drake Arena with a 5-0 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns.
Sophomore forward Johnny Lazo scored twice, while Jesse Craige, Greg Gardner and James Dobrowolski added singles. Gardner and Craige, along with Kruise Reddick and Alex Rodgers all chipped in with two points each, while fourth year goalie Real Cyr made 28 saves for his 10th win of the season and second shutout.
Lazo took over the goal scoring lead for the Bears notching his 10th and 11th goals of the season.
Pronghorns netminder Scott Bowles didn’t receive any support in front of him, but was stellar in the loss making 37 saves, many of the highlight reel variety.
“Losing the way we did last weekend was very disappointing and I thought we responded with one of our most complete games of the season,” said Bears head coach Stan Marple. "Real Cyr was very good. He made the big saves when we needed him. Our team discipline was excellent and our special teams tonight were the difference.”
One sore spot for the Bears this season has been their power play. Ranked second last in the Canada West, it struggled mightily against Saskatchewan last week.
Marple wanted to see the power play come alive against the Pronghorns who hold the league’s worst power play.
The Bears would finish 2-5 with the man advantage, and Craige got the Bears off on the right foot opening the scoring at the 7:06 mark of the first period with a power play marker.
Alberta held a 12-6 edge in shots in the opening frame. The Pronghorns’ record drops to 5-13-3 on the season. They may lack some of the firepower that teams like Alberta and Saskatchewan portray, but they have proven many times before to be a scrappy team to play against.
The Bears picked up the pace in the second period and were able to strike for three goals in a 2:30 span.
Gardner scored his third of the season at 5:08. Lazo scored his first of the game at 7:13 on the power play, and James Dobrowolski was in the right spot in the right time to tap in his sixth of the season just 25 seconds later.
Lethbridge quickly found themselves down four goals in a blink of an eye.
“Lethbridge is a team you can’t take lightly. We had a good first period, but missed on some chances to break the game open and we didn’t want to let another period go by without making good on our chances,” said Marple. “Our power play tonight was 20% and we have to be very happy with that. We moved the puck well, and we probably could have had a couple of more goals on the power play if it wasn’t for the play of Scott Bowles.”
The Pronghorns are led by their top line of captain Dustin Moore, Daniel Iwanski and Clayton Cumiskey.
When that line gets rolling, Lethbridge can be dangerous. Moore led the Lethbridge attack with 13 shots on net, but he was held in check by Gardner.
“Greg is one of the best defensive players in the league and he really compliments that line with Lazo and Reddick. He gives that line that veteran presence it needs,” said Marple.
The victory improves Alberta’s record to 14-5-2 in conference play and with the Huskies 4-2 loss to Manitoba Friday, close Saskatchewan’s lead in the standings to just two points.
The Golden Bears have just seven regular season games remaining and have their sights set on finishing in top spot.
“Our goal is to finish there, but what I’m most concerned of is seeing our team play a complete game from top to bottom,” said Marple. “If we play each game the rest of the way like we did tonight, we’ll give ourselves a chance for that top seed. My focus is for our team to be playing our best hockey come playoff time, that’s all that matters.”
