The Whitecourt Wolverines played their last road game of 2024 in Lloydminster on Wednesday, Dec. 18, defeating the Bobcats 5-2.
Caden Steinke scored his first goal of the season for the Bobcats at 9:06 in the first period. Steinke’s goal was scored on the power play with assists from Cooper Moore and Jack Birch.
At the end of the first period, the Bobcats had outshot the Wolverines 13-10 and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Braden Keeble carried the Wolverines through the second period, scoring his eighth goal of the season at 2:21 and his ninth goal of the season on a power play at 4:52. Travis Verbeek was credited with the primary assists on both goals while Dwayne Jean Jr picked up the secondary assist on Keeble’s first goal and Jalen Bianchet was credited with the secondary assist on the second goal.
At the end of the second period, the Lloydminster Bobcats had outshot the Whitecourt Wolverines 9-5 but the Wolverines took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
In the third period, Wolverines’ forward Ty Rayan scored his third goal of the season unassisted at 3:29 to extend the Wolverines’ lead to 3-1.
Lloydminster’s Luke Fritz then scored his 10th goal of the season at 14:39 with assists from Alessio Nardelli and Gus El-Tahhan to make it 3-2.
Travis Verbeek, however, scored his fourth goal of the season unassisted on an empty net at 17:50, with Dwayne Jean Jr. scoring another empty net goal at 19:32, to secure the Wolverines 5-2 victory. Jean Jr.’s ninth goal of the season was assisted by Jack Pollock.
The Lloydminster Bobcats outshot the Whitecourt Wolverines 16-10 in the third period and 38-25 overall.
Bobcats’ goaltender Kaiden Kirkwood made 20 saves on the 23 shots he faced.
Whitecourt Wolverines’ goaltender Zan Onyskiw made 36 saves on the 38 shots he faced.
—
With this win, the Wolverines now have a record of 21-7-1-1, for a total of 44 points, placing them first in both the AJHL North Division and overall league standings.
The Wolverines will wrap up 2024 on home ice Saturday, Dec. 21, as they play host to the Fort McMurray Oil Barons.
Puck Drop is at 7:00 p.m. and you can catch all the action live on XM105FM, home of the Whitecourt Wolverines.
