All six participating teams in this year's Allan Cup lined up on the ice for the opening ceremony prior to game two of the tournament between Lacombe and Southeast. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

ALLAN CUP DAY 1

Lacombe Generals lose to Steve Christie-led Thunder in Allan Cup opener

Apr 9, 2019 | 12:24 AM

No, not the former mayor.

However, it was in fact Winnipeg-born 34-year-old Steve Christie who stole the show making 52 stops on the night in a 4-2 victory for the Southeast Prairie Thunder over the Lacombe Generals. The tilt was the opening game of the Allan Cup for both squads.

Despite carrying the bulk of the play early in the first, the Generals found themselves trailing 1-0. They were then unable to set up anything substantial on two powerplays, though they also killed off one Thunder PP in the opening frame.

In the second, the Thunder extended their lead to 2-0, just past the midway mark.

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Lacombe got one back though at 16:19 as Travis Granbois banged one home to set the home crowd on fire.

Before the period was out, Southeast regained its two-goal cushion, and it was 3-1 visitors headed to the third.

The deficit would be too much to overcome for the home side, though Levi Nelson did score early on in the period to cut the lead to one goal.

“I think we wanted to weather the storm. We’ve had one series against Manitoba to qualify, and we knew they were gonna come hard, so I think we did that. Hopefully we can get better from here,” Christie said, also commenting on the abundance of rubber he faced.

“As a goalie, maybe you don’t want that many, but you do want to feel the puck.”

Generals head coach Sean Robertson was satisfied with the way his guys performed despite the loss.

“Weve seen him (Christie) before. He was up to his old tricks tonight. I just told my guys they can’t hang their heads because I thought we played an excellent game and they’re an opportunistic team,” said Robertson.

“I felt like we played our game and they capitalized on our mistakes, but we didn’t capitalize on theirs. I’m happy with the way we kept coming.”

Southeast finished with just 22 shots to Lacombe’s 54.

Lacombe plays next at 8 p.m. on Tuesday versus Haut-Madawaska from New Brunswick. Innisfail plays Stoney Creek at 4 p.m.