Your Drumheller Dragons continue to see early season success and that carried on this past weekend.
The Dragons were on the road for two this weekend, Friday night in Whitecourt and Saturday night in Drayton Valley. Friday night’s affair would start on the right note for the Dragons. One of Drumheller’s newest acquisitions, Allen Sherpa, scored his first as a Dragon at 3:29 of the first period, short-handed, from Lachlan Kozicky and Ryan Seeley. Then, only 1:18 later, Bradley Gallo (5) would score for the Dragons, assisted by Luca Dufour, giving Drumheller the early 2-0 lead. The Wolverines would get one back at 7:18 with a goal by Joey Vetrano, making it 2-1 Dragons.
In the second, Whitecourt would tie the game at 7:09, with a goal by Dwayne Jean Jr. on the powerplay. Then, with only 59 seconds left in the second period, the Wolverines would take their first lead of the game on a goal by Ethan Short. The score would be 3-2 Whitecourt heading into the third period.
It would remain 3-2 until the 13:24 mark when Dragon defenseman, Nathan Hawkins would score his third of the year, from Luca Dufour and Ryan Seeley. Both teams would have their chances but the game would need overtime.
In the extra session, Whitecourt would take their first penalty of the game, giving Drumheller the powerplay. The Dragons had their chances but could not score. The game would need a shootout.
The Dragons would shoot first but both Ellis Mieyette and Bradley Gallo were stopped by Wolverines goaltender Zac Onyskiw. On the other end, Dragons goaltender Sean Cootes shut the door on all three Whitecourt shooters and it would come down to Dragons captain Tate Yule. For the second shootout game, Yule would go bar down to give the Dragons the win.
Shots on Goal
Drumheller – 31
Whitecourt – 35
Powerplay
Drumheller – 0/1
Whitecourt – 1/5
Stars of the Game
Drumheller – Sean Cootes
Whitecourt – Zac Onyskiw
The road trip continued on Saturday night against a team the Dragons are pretty familiar with, the Drayton Valley Thunder. Saturday’s game would be the third game against Drayton Valley already this season. I think the Dragons may have figured them out a bit. The Dragons would open the scoring, 5:04 in, when Bradley Gallo scored his second goal in two games (6), unassisted. The Dragons would add to their lead at 7:17 with Avery Johnson scoring his third of the year, from Lauchlan Kozicky. Drumheller would add a powerplay marker with Easton Daneault scoring his fourth of the season, from Jase Johnstone and Will McLaughlin. Drayton Valley would get a powerplay goal themselves, when Cooper Brown would score with 4:24 left in the first, making it 3-1 Dragons after one period.
Drayton Valley would again capitalize on the powerplay early in the second period, with Cooper Brown scoring his second of the game at 3:29, making it 3-2 Drumheller. With 6:14 left in the second, Jase Johnstone (2) would score on the powerplay for the Dragons, assisted by Ellis Mieyette and Easton Daneault, giving Drumheller a 4-2 lead. With 2:08 remaining in the second period, the Dragons would increase their lead with Aiden Connell scoring his second of the season, from Hudson Gainer.
Drayton would try to crawl back in the game early in the third period, with Tim Kim scoring at 7:14. Bradley Gallo would score his second of the game (7) for the Dragons, on the powerplay, from Ayden Peters and Jase Johnstone at 13:46. Then, with only 2:23 left in the game, Jase Johnstone would score his second of the game (3), from Allen Sherpa and Bradley Gallo, making it 7-3 Drumheller.
Shots on Goal
Drumheller – 28
Drayton Valley – 27
Powerplay
Drumheller – 3/5
Drayton Valley – 2/7
Stars of the Game
Drumheller – Jase Johnstone (2G, 2A)
Drayton Valley – Harper LoLacher
The Dragons are back home on Friday night as the Camrose Kodiaks pay their first visit in the regular season. It’s also I Love the Drumheller Valley night. Tickets are available at tickets.drumhellerdragons.ca
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