The Whitecourt Wolverines edged the Drayton Valley Thunder 5-4 on the road on Tuesday night.
Wolverine Grayson Niehaus scored the first goal just 19 seconds into period two, with assistance from Justus Chyld and Kyle Tucker.
At 10:28, Whitecourt sent Mason Russell to the box for holding, and the Thunder scored on the power play 27 seconds later to tie it 1-1.
Whitecourt’s Spencer Claerhout fired back at 16:49 to make it 2-1, with the helpers going to Tucker and Jackson DeGraves. Wolverine Ty Rayan went to the box less than two minutes later for holding, putting Drayton on the power play again, and with six seconds left in the frame, the Thunder tied things 2-2.
Hunter Ashton started frame three action with an unassisted goal for the Wolverines at 1:30, bringing the score to 3-2. With assistance from Wolverines Taite Donkin and Claerhout, Rayan followed that up with a power play goal at 3:18 to double up on the Thunder with 4-2.
Drayton Valley netted another goal at 8:33 to make it 4-3, but Russell scored for Whitecourt less than one minute later, making it 5-3, with assistance from Parker Fitzgerald.
The Thunder narrowed Whitecourt’s lead to 5-4 with another power play goal at 14:35.
Whitecourt Wolverines goalie Jesse Sanche stopped 39 of 43 shots on goal, while the Thunder goalie faced 28 shots.
The Wolverines remain in fifth place in the AJHL North Division with a record of 7-8-0-0 and 14 points.
Next, they start a four-game homestand on Nov. 6 when they host the Lloydminster Bobcats at 7 p.m. On Nov. 8, they host the Fort McMurray Oil Barons at 2:30 p.m.
