The Prince Albert Northern Bears stayed close for the first half of Sunday’s contest with the league-leading Regina Rebels, but couldn’t keep pace in the second.
Regina broke a 2-2 second period tie with four unanswered goals on route to a 6-2 win at the Art Hauser Centre. Bears head coach Steve Young said the club did a lot of positive things in the first period and a half, but couldn’t sustain that momentum.
“I thought the first period we came out and laid it on the line and did what we have to do against a team like Regina,” Young said afterwards. “As the game went on we may have fallen back to some of our slower moments … but I thought for the most part today was better than yesterday.”
The Bears were looking for revenge after an 8-2 drubbing on Saturday. Although the final score wasn’t what they hoped for, Young said the club will take away some good lessons from the experience.
“One thing I think Regina does a very good job of is they’re on the puck,” he explained. “They want the puck. If you’re going to have success, you’ve got to have the puck. I think another thing is team speed, and that’s dictated by puck movement, so there are always some things you can take away.”
Warm-ups were interrupted by a brief power outage at the Art Hauser. The Bears struck first when the lights came back on thanks to Jazlyn Petreman. Her wrist shot from the top of the circle beat Rebels goaltender Chloe Sorenson high glove side at 13:44 giving Prince Albert a 1-0 lead. Kelsey Ledoux and Jasmine Kohl picked up the assists.
The visitors tied it up roughly seven-and-a-half minutes later. Avery Gottselig’s cross ice pass took a deflection and slid past Bears netminder Annika Neufeldt to make it 1-1.
The Rebels took the lead early in the second on the powerplay. Carys Cross’ wrist shot was stopped, but Addison Greve fired home the rebound just 1:16 into the period.
The Bears wasted little time tying things up. Raelyn Vezeau scored her second of the season right off the faceoff following an icing call on the Rebels. Taelyr Ballard picked up the lone assist.
However, it was all Rebels from here on in. Stryker Zablocki broke the tie on a breakaway at 11:56. Addison Greve added to the lead when a blocked shot bounced onto her stick late in the period. She beat Neufeldt stick side to make it 4-2.
The Rebels added two more goals in the third period. League scoring leader Greta Henderson made it 5-2 at 13:35, and Zablocki added her second of the night with 1:25 left to play, making it 6-2 Regina.
The Northern Bears are back at it again this weekend when the undefeated Notre Dame Hounds travel to Prince Albert for a two game series. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 25, and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26. Both games are at the Art Hauser Centre.