The Whitecourt Wolverines certainly made a comeback last weekend, crushing the Bonnyville Pontiacs 10-3 on Friday and the Devon Xtreme 6-3 on Saturday.
On Feb. 20, the Pontiacs scored first at 4:26 after Wolverine Cole Barrett went to the box for hooking.
Whitecourt’s Brendan Ruskowski tied things up 1-1 just 20 seconds later for his 24th goal of the season. Alex Symes and Tyler Pretty assisted.
At 13:03, Tristan Slywka and Ty Rayan helped Mason Russell bump the Wolverines to a 2-1 lead, but the Pontiacs tied it 2-2 before the end of the frame.
Whitecourt dominated the second frame, however, with five unanswered goals.
Nathan Hawkins started the action with a goal at 2:37. He was assisted by Jalen Bianchet and Cole Barrett. Barrett and Braden Nienaber then assisted Kyle Tucker with a goal about four minutes later.
Soon after, Brendan Ruskowski netted his 25th goal of the season at 8:06, with assistance from Jackson DeGraves and Tyler Pretty.
About three minutes later, Alex Symes scored, his third of the season. Mason Russell and Jager Gugyelka got the helpers.
Then, at 16:19, Ruskowski scored again on a powerplay. He was assisted by Quentin Bourne and Tyler Pretty in sending the Wolverines to a 7-2 lead before the end of the frame.
Wolverine captain Jalen Bianchet kept the momentum going in period three, scoring a powerplay goal at 1:04. The helpers went to Brendan Ruskowski and Kyle Tucker.
At 14:26, Bonnyville tried to make a dent in Whitecourt’s 8-2 lead, bringing the score to 8-3.
Thirty-two seconds later, Bianchet scored his 42nd goal of the season to earn the Wolverines their ninth point of the game. He was assisted by Kyle Tucker and Quentin Bourne.
Before the buzzer sounded, Tyler Pretty secured the 10-3 victory for Whitecourt, unassisted.
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On Saturday, Devon scored first in period one, but Whitecourt’s Ty Rayan tied things up 1-1 with an unassisted shorthanded goal at 12:26.
The Xtreme scored again though to get back in the lead 2-1 before the end of the period.
In the second frame, Whitecourt’s Tyler Pretty scored a powerplay goal at 3:09 to tie it up 2-2 after Devon’s Nolan Eastwood went to the box for cross checking. Kyle Tucker and Jalen Bianchet assisted.
Then with assistance from Kyle Tucker and Tyler Pretty, Jalen Bianchet broke that 2-2 tie at 12:21 for a 3-2 lead and his 43rd goal of the season.
Pretty then scored his own goal, an insurance goal and his ninth of the season, about 2:30 later, with the helpers going to Spencer Claerhout and Brendan Ruskowski.
The Xtreme narrowed Whitecourt’s lead to 4-3 before the frame ended.
Brendan Ruskowski netted two more in period three: one powerplay goal at 12:16, with assistance from Quentin Bourne and Tyler Pretty, and another goal at 17:08, with assists from Alex Symes and Tyler Pretty, pushing the Wolverines to a 6-3 win.
After falling to second place in the division after dual losses the previous weekend, the Wolverines are back in the top spot of the AJHL North Division with a record of 33-11-1-2, just one point ahead of the Grande Prairie Storm.
