The Lacombe Generals desperately needed a win in their second game of the 2019 Allan Cup against the Haut-Madawaska Panthers to keep their hopes of earning first place in their pool alive and thus avoid having to play three games in three nights.
Luckily for the Generals, a massive scoring splurge in the first period would lead to blowout win, keeping their chances alive pending the outcome of the Prairie Thunder, Panther game Wednesday night at 8 p.m.
“I thought it was a full 60 minutes and I think we improved on last night,” Generals Forward Kyle Stroh said. “Last night we played well, but it was one of those games where you run into a hot goalie. I thought tonight we buried our chances when we had them. That is a positive for us and we will move forward from here.”
The splurge started with an onslaught of five-on-five pressure, eventually resulting in a goal on the breakaway by Billy Marshall. Stroh would score 10 seconds later to make it 2-0, followed by another Stroh goal with under five to play in the frame.
“Crowds always give you a little push. It helps, but we know what we have to do: Just capitalize on our chances and the rest will take care of itself,” Stroh said.
Travis Granbois would add another goal for good measure, putting the Generals up 4-0 and firmly in control heading into the second frame.
Lacombe played it fairly safe in the second period — only pressing their advantage for an additional goal late in the period by Cody Cartier.
It looked like the Generals were going to carry a five-goal lead into the third period, but Panther Lachlan MacIntosh would score a late goal with 40 seconds remaining to break the shutout for Generals goalie Steven Standford.
The third period played out similar to the second, with both teams adding a goal to their totals. Generals forward Matt Brown would sneak past two defenders to score his first goal of the 111th Allan Cup and Justin Bowers would score for the Panthers — leading to the final score of 6-2.
Stanford finished with 33 saves for the Generals for the win and Lacombe now waits to find out who their opponent will be on Thursday — with the most likely outcome being the Innisfail Eagles, who finished last in their pool earlier in the day.
“I don’t think it really matters who our opponent is. We just have to worry about what we can do and what we can control. Whoever our opponent is, we just have to be prepared and play our game,” Stroh said.
Haut-Madawaska, as mentioned, will play the South East Prairie Thunder Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Stroh said the most important part of Wednesday will be getting rest.
“We are not all professionals anymore so a rest day isn’t the worst thing to let our bodies recuperate a bit. A lot of the guys still have to work, so the will do that and then we will have some team bonding tomorrow night,” Stroh said.
todd.vaughan@lacombeexpress.com
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