Bears offence strikes early and often against Gold Wings

Jason Kerr

Daily Herald

The Prince Albert Northern Bears got all the offence they needed in the first period of their 6-3 win over the Weyburn Gold Wings on Sunday.

The Bears scored four times in the first 20 minutes, three of which came courtesy of forward Jersie Andersen, and cruised to victory at the Art Hauser Centre.

“We felt with them coming off a game the day before that it was important for us to get on that team right away,” Bears head coach Steve Young said after the game. “Jersie was rewarded for that, but I thought the biggest thing is we didn’t sit back and see what was going to happen in this game. We went right at it, so credit to the girls for doing that.”

The Gold Wings entered Sunday afternoon’s game after a 3-2 loss the night before in Swift Current. The Bears wasted little time making the road-wearying Weyburn club pay.

Anderson scored her first of the game 1:48 into the first period, then followed up with her second exactly three minutes later.

Weyburn recovered to score a power play goal with 6:44 to play in the first, but Anderson and Jana Simonson replied with goals for Prince Albert, giving the Bears a 4-1 lead heading into the break.

Prior to Sunday’s contest, the last five Bears games were decided by a single goal. Young said it was nice to see the offence explode and take some pressure off the defence.

“There’s times when you sit and watch those close games and go ‘what if’ but today, for our offence to create those goals and create those opportunities, it was very good,” he said.

“I think if our record wasn’t what it is, it may have been tougher to keep them focused, but we’ve been through so many close games and ended up on the wrong end of the stick that I think they took it amongst themselves to say that’s not going to happen, so I’m very proud of them,” he added.

The two teams traded goals in the second and third periods. Lea Hildebrandt made it 5-1 Bears with 7:54 to play in the second before Tristan Todosichuk responded for Weyburn.

The Gold Wings made it 5-3 late in the third with a short-handed goal from Skyla McNichol, but Hildebrandt iced the game with an empty net goal in the last minute to make it 6-3 Prince Albert.

Maggie Schell made 37 stops to earn the win for the Bears while Prince Albert product Tila Boyd made 32 saves in the Weyburn goal.

The Bears are back on the ice on Saturday when they host the Swift Current Wildcats at the Art Hauser Centre. Saturday’s contest is the first of four straight meetings between the two clubs.

Puck drop is 1:30 p.m.

Saturday’s game is also the Bears’ “Teddy Bear Toss” game. All teddy bears thrown on the ice following Prince Albert’s first goal will be donated to Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert.

@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca

November 26