The Prince Albert Northern Bears had a much better game offensively in the second half of a back to back against Regina, but fell 5-1 to the Rebels on Sunday at the Art Hauser Centre. The Bears piled on 33 shots compared to just 16 from Saturday’s loss, but were still only able to get one shot to find the back of the net.
For the fifth time this season, Prince Albert suffered a loss to the hands of Regina, the most out of any team in the league, falling to 7-13-1-3.
Rebels leading scorer Alexis Petford opened the scoring 1:29 into the game, leading a rush down the right wing. Corralling a rolling puck near the blue line she broke down the wing and took a shot that fooled Paige Fischer glove side putting Regina up 1-0 early.
Sophia Zuck had a great chance to tie the game on a Bears powerplay. Wide open in the slot, Zuck fired a shot from point blank that Chloe Sorenson got a piece of, and the puck trickled near the goal line but stayed out, keeping it a 1-0 game.
The Rebels struck again with 1:38 left in the first on the powerplay. Fischer made an original save on a point shot, but couldn’t track the rebound, and the puck was sitting right in front for Megan Hayurst. Making no mistake, Hayurst buried Regina’s second goal of the game, and her third goal in two games against Prince Albert.
With the late powerplay marker, Regina took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Sophia Zuck was robbed of a goal in the second period on another Bears powerplay. A rebound was sitting right in front of the crease for Prince Albert’s leading scorer and she banged it in, a premature whistle robbed Zuck of making it a one goal game. The official thought that Sorenson had covered the puck and blew the play dead, but that was clearly not the case. However, the goal did not count, and it remained a 2-0 Regina lead.
Both goaltenders did what they had to do in net for their respective teams, as no goals were scored in the middle frame. The Rebels held their 2-0 lead going into the third period, while the Bears led 24-18 in shots.
The Rebels scored two quick goals in the third period to go up by a commanding 4-0 score. Both goals were scored by Petford, who scored her second and third goals of the contest. First it was a nice deflection in front on a point shot that fooled Fischer five hole. Petford then roofed a shot top shelf just 1:01 later to make it a four goal lead.
Sasha Malenfant quickly answered for the Bears on the powerplay just over two minutes later. Receiving a pass from Calla Kampen from the point, Malenfant stepped into the left circle and fired a rocket past Sorenson. The rookie’s eighth goal of the season made it a 4-1 Regina lead.
Greta Henderson put an end to any comeback bid with a shorthanded goal with 10:28 left in the third. A Rebels clearing attempt went off the lineman’s skate and right to the stick of Henderson, who came in to the Prince Albert zone on a breakaway. Fischer made a nice save on the original shot, but the rebound followed Henderson, who was able to bury it for her 20th goal of the season. The shorthanded tally made it a 5-1 Regina lead, which ended up being the final score.
Paige Fischer made 22 saves on 27 shots in the loss, while Sorenson made 34 stops on 35 shots in the win, as the Rebels improved to 17-3-1-2.
Next up for Prince Albert is a road game on Feb. 10th in the Battlefords against the Sharks.
@kyle_kosowan•sports@paherald.sk.ca
