Jasper defeats Onoway in 4-3 nail-biter

The Jasper Wolves took a bite out of the Onoway Ice Dogs, winning 4-3 Saturday night at the Jasper Arena, in the team’s first game since before Christmas.

The game got off to a slow start, with the teams tied at zero at the end of the first, but picked up when Onoway player Cory Caouette scored 39 seconds into period two.

Jasper’s Jamie Black put one in the net, assisted by Joey Hill and Taylor Van Tighem, to tie it up in the second period. It wasn’t looking good when the Ice Dogs scored twice more, bringing the score to 3-1 at the beginning of the third.

Alex Melnyk scored for the Wolves a few minutes into the last period, in a goal assisted by Rob Olsen and Van Tighem.

Wolves player Joey Hill tied it up at 3-3 halfway through the third period, getting one past the Onoway goalie assisted by Van Tighem and Kent Paterson.

With 12 minutes left in the game, the pressure was on as the Wolves held the Ice Dogs in their end with a power-play, but Jasper couldn’t put one in the net.

The crowd cheered when, with five minutes left in the third period, Seth Carlyle scored an unassisted goal, the one that would win the game for the Wolves.

Onoway racked up 20 penalty minutes, twice that of Jasper, in addition to several misconduct calls and one gross misconduct.

This win really secured a spot for Jasper in the play-offs, said team captain Alex Derksen. “This is a definite confidence booster, especially heading into the play-offs in early February,” he said.

The Wolves had a shaky December, as the team was short players on the road, including Derksen, who was off with a broken nose. “When we’re at home we have a better game, with the players and fan  support,” Derksen said, adding the Ice Dogs have played a game since Christmas, while Jasper hadn’t.

“I don’t know how we did it,” he said. “The biggest thing this game was our goaltender (Joseph Bartziokas). It was the game of the year for him.”

Onoway is in second place in the south division of the North Central Hockey League, trailing after Edson. Hinton is currently in third, Jasper’s in fourth and Drayton Valley is in last place. 

The Wolves face the Ice Dogs again Friday night in Onoway, then play in Edson Saturday. They’re back at home against Hinton on Jan. 23 before the play-offs start in early February.