by Morinville News Staff
The Morinville Senior AA Kings lost their first game of the season Saturday night with an 8-3 upset with the Bonnyville Pontiacs.
The Kings started the season strong with back-to-back pre-season games and a string of three regular season wins in a row.
Saturday night’s contest seemed to be a matter of not being able to capitalize on chances. The Kings outpaced the Pontiacs 44-33 in shots, the majority of those coming in the final frame as the Kings tried to close the gap.
Despite attacking the net 11 times in the opening frame, the Kings entered the second period trailing 2-0. That margin widened over the next 20 to leave the Kings heading towards the final 20 with a 5-2 deficit to close.
Penalties were an issue for the Kings. Three of the Pontiacs five goals in the first two periods were scored with a man advantage.
The final frame saw Bonnyville wracking up three in a row to build the lead to 8-2. Travis Duperron, assisted by Jamie Johnson and Brady Goebel, got a power play goal with 27 seconds left in the game to close the gap to 8-3, but the two points had already been earned for Bonnyville by that point.
The Kings play one game this week, a home-ice showdown with the Whitecourt Wild. Game time is Oct. 29 at 8:30 p.m. at the Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
