By Stephen Dafoe
Morinville – Sunday afternoon’s 8-1 home-ice victory over the Stony Plain Flyers came as no real surprise to Jets fans. Heading into the contest, the Flyers had lost 23 of their 24 games this season, two of which were in overtime, giving them four points in the CJHL standings.
But while it would have been easy for the Jets to hit the ice with the certainty of two points being earned after 60 minutes of game play, they did not take the Flyers for granted. Instead the club put forth a solid effort of digging for the puck and capitalizing on their chances.
Five of the Jets’ eight goals were scored on the powerplay and Justin Proulx picked up an unassisted, shorthanded goal late in the middle frame.
The Junior B club were also effective with their penalty kill, working their way through 24 minutes of penalty time without letting anything hit the net, let alone the scoreboard. The only goal to get past backstop Rob Carter’s was an even-strength goal in the third period.
The Jets ended the first period with a 3-0 lead, outshooting the Flyers 20-3. That strength was built on in the middle frame with the Jets increasing the margin to 5-0 and outshooting the Flyers 38-10. Final period game play saw the Jets launch another nine shots at the Flyers while blocking all but one of Stony Plain’s eight chances.
Sunday’s victory brings the Jets’ record to 12-9-4 and positions them in a third-place tie with the 13-7-2 Spruce Grove Regals in the West Division standings.
The Jets play three more games before the Christmas break. The club travels to Sherwood Park to take on the Knights Tuesday night, return to home ice Friday night to take on the CJHL’s top-ranked Beverly Warriors and travel to Spruce Grove Sunday evening to take on the Regals.
Game time for Friday night’s home game is 8:30 p.m. at the Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
