By Troy Gillard

ALLAN CUP

Lacombe wins, Innisfail loses in Allan Cup round-robin play

Apr 9, 2019 | 11:17 PM

A strong start lifted the host Lacombe Generals to their first win at the 2019 Allan Cup on Tuesday, 6-2 over the Haut-Madawaska Panthers from New Brunswick.

The Generals finish round robin play at 1-1 and are likely destined for a date with the Innisfail Eagles in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Lacombe’s strong start on Wednesday featured a four goal first period outburst where a pair of goals from Kyle Stroh were sandwiched between tallies from Billy Marshall and Travis Granbois.

Cody Cartier made it 5-0 Lacombe with a tip-in goal late in period two before Lachlan MacIntosh finally got the Panthers on the board with 40 seconds left.

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Matt Brown made it a 6-1 game midway through period three. Justin Bowers pounced on a turnover in front of the Generals net to put home the second Panthers goal of the game with less than seven minutes left to play.

Lacombe outshot Haut-Madawaska 48-33 on the night. Steven Stanford earned the win between the pipes for the Generals while Adrien Lemay was saddled with the loss.

“It was a solid sixty minutes, I thought we improved on last night,” Stroh said post-game.

“Last night was just one of those nights where you run into a hot goalie and tonight I thought we really [bore] down and buried our chances when we had them. It’s a positive for us and we move forward from here.”

Stroh says it felt good, after scoring just two goals on 52 shots Monday versus the South East Prairie Thunder, to score a couple of early goals versus the Panthers.

“Confidence is key in any sport. Once you have a little more confidence you can have a little more poise with the puck, you can make some plays and open up space for your teammates.”

The Generals are off Wednesday and are likely to take on the Innisfail Eagles in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

“From now on I don’t think it really matters who our opponent is,” Stroh said. “We just have to worry about what we can do and control. Our opponent, whoever it’s going to be, we just have to be prepared and play our game and win our battles, play simple and play hard and let the chips fall where they may.”

Prior to the game the Generals retired the numbers of four franchise greats: #4 Don Morrison, #5 Brett Thurston, #25 Curtis Austring and #29 Sean Robertson. They are the only four players who suited up for each of the Generals’ Allan Cup title wins in 2009, 2013 and 2016.

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The Innisfail Eagles fell to 0-2 following a 41- defeat at the hands of the defending champion Stoney Creek Generals in Tuesday’s early game.

Cam Fergus scored in the first and second periods for Stoney Creek. Nathan Pageau scored late in the third period as did Sean Blanchard with an empty netter.

Shawn Bates scored Innisfail’s lone goal of the game in the first period.

Kraymer Barnstable got the start in net for Innisfail and made 26 saves. Ryan DeMelo turned aside 35 shots for Stoney Creek.

The Eagles are off Wednesday and are guaranteed to play in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Stoney Creek takes on Rosetown in round robin play on Wednesday.