The La Ronge Ice Wolves earned their first win of the season Sunday in Warman when they downed the Kindersley Klippers 4-2.
“I think it all just kind of came together today,” said Ice Wolves Associate Coach Gaelan Patterson. “I think we’ve been very, very close in the last few games. Finally, things just started to click the right way. We had some good individual efforts and it was just a real solid team effort.”
The Klippers opened the scoring 15:06 into the first period on the power play when Liam Fraser raced into the La Ronge zone, cut to the high slot and ripped it upstairs past Steven Bacovsky for his third of the season.
The Ice Wolves tied the game at one 19:14 into the second following a Zach Bannister goal on a partial breakaway shorthanded. For Bannister, it was his first of the season and he was glad to get the monkey off his back.
“We just kept plucking away, we were relentless, we didn’t quit, we had a slow start to the game I thought,” said Ice Wolves forward Zach Bannister. “As the game went on, we were battling harder and competing harder.”
La Ronge took a 2-1 lead 4:22 into the third when Logan Holm hammered the puck off the end glass that banked off Zach Johnson and into the net. It was Holm’s first SJHL marker. The Ice Wolves took a two-goal advantage on the power play 10:54 into the frame after Kyle Ford took a sweet feed in tight and made no mistake for his fourth of the season.
The Klippers made things interesting 16:47 into the third when Kyle Bosch fired a shot quickly after the draw that beat Steven Bacovsky, which made it a 3-2 contest. The Ice Wolves added some insurance 18:54 into the period following Daylon Mannon’s fourth of the season. Zach Johnson was going to the bench for the extra attacker, but Mannon picked up the puck and hammered it in the yawning cage.
With the win, the Ice Wolves improved to 1-5 on the campaign. La Ronge is back in action on Wednesday in Warman at the SJHL Showcase when they meet the Melville Millionaires for the first time this season.
You can catch Wednesday’s game on MBC Network Radio with Braden Malsbury, the pre-game show begins at 1:45 p.m.
(PHOTO: The Ice Wolves celebrate their win. Photo by Braden Malsbury.)