Northern Bears win one and lose one against the Regina Rebels
The Prince Albert Northern Bears gave Regina Rebels netminder Chantal Burke quite a workout over the weekend, peppering the goalie with 89 shots over the course of two games.
The Bears ended up splitting the two-game home stand, winning the first match in double overtime and getting shut out 3-0 the following day.
“We like the effort, obviously, our shots on goal I think kind of reflected our effort and how much we had the puck,” Bears coach Jeff Willoughby said.
“(When) we’re faced up against a strong goalie we have to just do more in front of their net. It’s simple as that.”
Saturday’s match was scoreless through the first 40 minutes of play, despite the Bears firing 28 shots at Burke during that stretch. P.A. would go on to outshoot Regina 52-20 by the end of the game.
The Rebels finally broke the ice on the power play six minutes into Period 3. Later in the frame Hannah Koroll would tie the score on her third goal of the year to take the game to overtime.
One period of extra play wouldn’t be enough for the two teams, however. It would take double overtime to settle the match, with P.A.’s Ireland South netting the game winner.
The Bears were shut out on the power play on Saturday, going scoreless on six attempts, while the Rebels were one-for-three on the match.
The Rebels were once again first on the board on Sunday afternoon, with forward Emilia McDougall beating netminder Brooklyn Elek late in the first period for her eighth goal of the campaign.
In the second period Regina doubled their lead to 2-0 on a goal from leading scorer Kennedy Bobyck on the power play. Bobyck struck again in the third period with a breakaway goal, her 23rd of the season, to put the visitors up by three.
Despite outshooting the Rebels 37-18 and being given eight power play opportunities the Bears were unable to beat Burke in net as the Regina goalie notched her first shutout of the season.
The Bears have the next two weeks off to accommodate for the Saskatchewan Hockey Association’s SaskFirst female U16 and U18 regional camps, taking place in Warman this coming weekend. Sixteen of the team’s 20 players will be participating in the high-performance development program.
“We’re glad we have that many involved there, that’s a good sign,” Willoughby said.
The Bears return to competitive play on Feb. 11 when they face the Notre Dame Hounds at the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
