FINAL SCORE: SHERWOOD PARK 7 Grande Prairie 2

The Crusaders stepped up their offensive game tonight even with the absence of the league’s leading scorer, Tyler Maltby. They also lost another offensive threat early on in the game when Alex Rotundo went down behind the Storm net but these setbacks didn’t stop the Crusaders.

Despite a frustrating first period, the Crusaders didn’t give up their offensive game and came out aggressively in the second. Brett Roberts was the one who slotted home the first goal of the game from the team’s impressive start, he a flung a nice backhand onto goal which found the net. Shortly after, fourth line winger Brandon Wallis sped down the right side then slotted the puck bottom left. To finish off the scoring in the period for the Cru, rookie Garrett Clegg found line mate Ryan Rebelato with an excellent pass who then put it past the netminder, a well-deserved goal for Rebelato and the third line.

As for the third period, the goals didn’t stop as the Crusaders got themselves four more highlighted by a tic-tac-toe play finished off by Tanner Younghans. The rest of goals were scored by Brett Roberts who got two tonight, Merritt Oszytko, Koletrane Wilson with his first of the year and finally another from Merritt Oszytko.

Overall, despite the absence of two-star players, the team really turned up tonight with an all-around solid performance.

THE UPS

• Torontow danced through the Storm defense a couple of times in the first. It’s nice to see him getting into the action offensively and creating chances.
• Rebelato was extremely active tonight, he showed great speed, created opportunities for himself and teammates also grabbed himself a goal. His other lines mates played a nice game too.
• The Cru came out hard in the second, got the puck in the Storm ended immediately then generated a decent amount of chances, the end product was a goal from Roberts.
• Going along with my third line point earlier, rookie Garrett Clegg was a standout performer. The first period he wasn’t involved in the game much, but in the second he really came alive where he had a beautiful assist on Rebelato’s goal.
• I say this almost every game but once again the penalty kill was solid.
• The teams passing was a piece of art tonight, best I have seen from them all season.
• Another line that stood out was the second line of Younghans, Oszytko, and Readman. The three of them were dangerous every time they were on the ice and played like they’d being playing together all season.

THE DOWNS

• Little sloppy in their own end, misplacing pucks giving the Storm a couple of chances.
• The two goals that the Cru conceded were weak, both rebounds of the goalies pads. The original shots should’ve never of been allowed to happen, both thrown on goal from the sides.
• With less than 10 minutes left in the third, the Crusaders became undisciplined and were put in a 5 on 3 situation twice. If they had done this against a better team they would’ve paid for those penalties.
• Despite all the chances they had in the first the offense couldn’t put the puck in the net, luckily for them again they weren’t playing a tough opponent.

THE TURNING POINT

Brett Roberts made the turning point tonight after scoring his first of the year. As I said earlier on, the Crusaders started the second period brightly which concluded with a Roberts goal. Once this happened there was no stopping the Cru’s offense which was shown since they scored six more.

UP NEXT

Big weekend for the Crusaders! First up they’ve got the Okotoks Oilers coming to town who currently hold a 16-7-4 record in the south division. The puck drops at 7 right here at the Sherwood Park Arena, should be an excellent game.