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Thunder Cats stay hot with 2 more wins

Creston Valley Thunder Cats ran their record to 9-1 in 2017 with two more victories on the weekend.
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Creston Valley Thunder Cats

Creston Valley Thunder Cats ran their record to 9-1 in 2017 with two more victories on the weekend.

They routed the Golden Rockets 8-0 at home on Friday night, then travelled to Fernie to pick up a 4-2 win on Saturday. The T-Cats remain 7 points up on the Kimberely Dynamiters in the Eddie Mountain Division.

Seven players shared the scoring against last place Golden. Jonathan Lee opened the scoring, with assists from Liam Plunkett and Sebastian Kilcommons, but Golden goaltender Dorian Laganiere-Labranche turned away the other 24 first period shots he faced.

Paxton Malone (Liam Plunkett and McConnell Kimmett) notched a power play goal less than five minutes into the second period and got his team on a roll. Justen James (Lien Miller-Jeannotte and Ronnie Wilkie) and Austin Anselmo (Kilcommons and Wilkie) also scored to give Creston a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes of play.

Brodie Smith opened the floodgates when he scored 2:04 into the third, with assists from Michael Spenrath and Kimmett. Wilkie (Thomas Cankovic and Liam Rycroft), James (Bryce Sturm and Kilcommons) and James (Sturm and Kilcommons) scored in the following two minutes, chasing Laganiere-Labranche from the game. Luke Kalenuik (Malone and Smith) finished off the scoring against Cody Grobowsky.

Brock Lefebvre was credited with the win, stopping all 25 shots he faced. Creston poured 68 shots on goal in the dominant win.

Saturday’s game in Fernie was more of a challenge, as expected. Ben Shushkovsky opened the scoring, but Grant Iles tied the game, with assists awarded to Plunkett and Spenrath.

Smith (Malone) opened the second period scoring and Iles (Plunkett and Spenrath) gave the Thunder Cats a 3-1 lead before Ryan Kennedy’s goal drew the Ghostriders within a goal before the period was done.

Spenrath beat the buzzer with a power play goal with a second remaining the game to complete the scoring. His goal was unassisted.

It took another solid effort from Lefebvre to give Creston the edge. He faced 37 shots, compared to the 22 his teammates managed to put up against Fernie goalie Brandon Younger.

The Thunder Cats were scheduled to host the Columbia Valley Rockies on Wednesday night. Weekend action sees Creston visit Golden on Saturday to take on the Rockets.

Despite the wins, Creston now has only two players among the leagues’ top 20 scorers. Malone still holds down third place with 63 points and Plunkett is in a tie for 13th place with 52 points.