A pair of goals in the first and second periods turned out to be all the Prince Albert Northern Bears needed as they skated to a 4-1 win over the Weyburn Gold Wings at the Art Hauser Centre on Saturday afternoon.
“The biggest thing is we needed a win and we got the win.” Northern Bears head coach Steve Young said. “There are some things in our game that I believe still aren’t where they should be, but at the same time, you never critique a win, and we got to take those three points and get ready to move on.”
Prince Albert would open the scoring with 14:12 remaining in the first period as Bree Purcell would find twine with her fifth goal of the season. Ella Clarke provided the lone helper.
After a body checking minor called against Prince Albert’s Zayda Summach, Weyburn would go on the power play.
Prince Albert would turn out to be the benefactor of the power play as Kinley Brassard’s third goal of the season would come short handed with 10:41 to go in the opening frame. The goal was unassisted.
“I was forechecking really hard.” Brassard said. “I love the thrill of chasing down icings and just getting the puck, adrenaline rush again, and shooting it in.”
Shots favored the Bears 14-9 after the first period.
Tristyn Endicott would extend the Bears lead to 3-0 with her seventh goal of the season coming with 17:34 remaining in the second period. Julia Cey had the lone helper on the play.
Hadley Revenko would get Weyburn on the scoreboard with 14:05 remaining in the second period with her fourth goal of the season. Hallie Parada picked up the lone helper.
It wouldn’t take long for the Northern Bears to respond as captain Julia Cey would net her team leading 12th goal of the campaign just twenty six seconds later. Endicott and Caprice Harder would pick up the assists on the play.
Neither team would find the back of the net in the third period, despite Weyburn outshooting Prince Albert 16-4 in the final period.
Annika Neufeldt earned the win in net for Prince Albert making 37 saves on 38 Weyburn shots. Amy Swayze made 23 saves for the Gold Wings.
The Bears return to action on Wednesday night when they welcome the Battlefords Sharks to the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
