Following the St. Paul Canadiens dominant 10-2 win over the Frog Lake T-Birds on Friday night, the sound of Shania Twain’s Party for Two was heard in the team locker room.
The players definitely deserved to have fun and get loose after the effort they produced for their home fans.
The eight-goal differential was a positive surprise considering that Frog Lake and the Canadiens possessed similar 10-5 records coming into the game, and because the two previous matchups between these teams were decided by two goals or less (St. Paul and Frog Lake split those two games).
The Canadiens made a statement that this contest would not resemble the other two showdowns by outscoring the T-Birds 4-0 in the opening period, and outshooting them 22-4.
Scoring goals in the opening period was Wes Thompson, Ryley Wozniak, Mikael Beaudoin and Brodin Ference.
The second period followed a similar script: The Canadiens had a 4-0 advantage in goals and they dominated on the shot clock (14-6).
Mikael Beaudoin scored twice in the period to earn the hat trick. This was the third game in a row that he earned at least three goals. Roddy MacDougall also scored two goals in the period to help expand the Canadiens lead to 8-0.
The impressive element of the Canadiens offence is that they were able to generate goals in many different ways. They scored on wrist shots and snap shots from the slot and the high slot and they cashed in on rebounds generated by hard shots from the point or by breakaway opportunities.
Canadiens head coach Joe Young said there are a couple of things attributing to why his team was in an offensive rhythm on that night.
“We are using our speed and moving the puck around nice. Our lines are also getting chemistry. It is great when you can keep the lines together instead of switching it up. We are seeing the benefits of that right now.
The team’s assistant captain Bryton Beattie, who earned three assists in the game, agreed with his coach’s assessment that a lot of elements of the team’s game are positive right now.
“Some of our lines are really clicking and are on fire. We are also really working hard in both the offensive and defensive zone.”
The T-Birds managed to get on the board in the third period with two goals to make the game 8-2. Dyson Roy and Mikael Beaudoin, with his fourth goal of the night, scored in the last seven minutes of the game to expand the lead to 10-2.
The Canadiens once again applied tremendous pressure on the Frog Lake net. The Habs held a 26-13 advantage in shots in the third. At the end of the game the shot clock read 62 for St. Paul and just 23 for Frog Lake.
There was some animosity between the two teams in the final period as they combined for 92 penalty minutes. The highlight of the after-whistle action was a goalie fight between Ryan Cote and Jared Lafond.
The win improved the Canadiens record to 7-3 on home ice and 11-5 overall. The following night the Canadiens offence sputtered at the Cold Lake Arena. The Habs’ rival, the Cold Lake Ice, earned a big 6-1 win to drop the Canadiens to an 11-6 record.
