Your Drumheller Dragons took to the road on Saturday night for their first game of their final road trip of the regular season. They headed to the border city, Lloydminster, to face the Bobcats. Heading into the game, the Dragons knew that they had clinched a playoff spot but wanted to secure a win to reign in the Camrose Kodiaks, who going into the game, were only four points up on the Dragons. It would also be the last visit for the Dragons in the Centennial Civic Centre Arena, as the Bobcats will be moving to their new arena next season.
The Bobcats had trouble on the penalty kill when the two teams met in Drumheller back on February 5th. Drumheller would make them pay early in this game, on the powerplay, when Easton Daneault scored his 18th of the year, from Ayden Peters. The Dragons had a strong period out shooting the Bobcats 15-4. Late in the period, Dragons netminder Sean Cootes made a save but came up not feeling 100 percent. He would stay in the net for the remainder of the first, but Matthew Kondro would take over to start the second period.
Lloydminster would come out stronger in the second period and would tie the game 1-1 when Gus El-Tahhan scored on the powerplay at 6:09. Drumheller would regain the lead just over three minutes later when Hudson Gainer fired one in from the point, his second of the season, from Tate Yule and Bradley Gallo. The Bobcats would tie the game with 5:55 left in the second with Kai Billey scoring his 13th of the year. The period would end tied at 2-2 although the Dragons would have a good chance to take the lead but the horn would go before Tate Yule could get the shot away.
The third period would be a good battle with both teams having their opportunities. It looked like the game would need overtime to solve the stalemate but that would not be the case. The boards in the Centennial Civic Centre are very lively with the puck coming off them hard and at unexpected angles. The puck would go off the boards behind the Dragons net and end up in the slot. Matthew Hikida, who had a couple of great chances throughout the game, would benefit snapping the shot behind Dragons netminder Matthew Kondro with 1:15 left. Drumheller would pull their goaltender for an extra attacker and would have there chances but with 35 seconds left in the game, Lloydminster’s Ben Constantino would find the empty net giving the Bobcats the 4-2 victory.
Shots on Goal
Drumheller – 30
Lloydminster – 25
Powerplay
Drumheller – 1/2
Lloydminster – 1/3
3 Stars
- Hudson Gainer DRM (1G)
- Matthew Hikida LLD (GWG)
- Ayden Peters DRM (1A)
The Dragons wrap up their final road trip of the season on Sunday afternoon against the third place Camrose Kodiaks. Would love to get the win and be only two points behind the Kodiaks after the weekend. Game time is at 2 PM and you can listen with Jason Blanke and Boedy Shields, starting with the Western GM Pregame Show at 1:45 PM on the “home of the Dragons” New Country 92.5!
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