by Stephen Dafoe
The Morinville Jets picked up their third straight win Wednesday night, defeating the 1-3-0 North Edmonton Red Wings 5-3. The mid-week win brings the Jets to a 4-1-0 record early in the season.
The Jets and Wings opened the first period relatively equally matched in scoring opportunities at 9-8 in the Red Wings favour, but only the Jets capitalized during the frame to give them a 1-0 lead heading into the second period.
A shorthanded goal at 18:19 pushed the Jets ahead to lead 2-0. With a minute and twenty-two seconds left in the period and leading the Wings 3-1, the Jets picked up a two-man advantage, capitalizing on it to bring the contest to 4-1with 45 seconds left in the frame. Although the Red Wings outshot the Jets 26-16 in the first 40 minutes, they entered the final frame trailing 4-1.
The third period saw both sides struggling to ripple the mesh. The Red Wings picked up their second goal of the game with 12:19 left in the period to close the gap to 4-2, but neither side was able to capitalize on their chances until the Wings picked up their third with 4:35 left in the game. With 38 seconds left in Wednesday night’s game, Morinville pocketed one into an empty net to take the game 5-3.
The Jets are set to return to home ice against the Leduc Schwabb Riggers Sunday night, but mechanical problems at the Ray McDonald Sports Center may mean a new location or a rescheduling of the game.
