By Dan Hermanutz

Moving on!

Thunder roll onto round two of AJHL playoffs

Mar 10, 2020 | 11:54 AM

The Drayton Valley Thunder are moving on to the second round of AJHL playoffs after dispatching the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the first round in six games.

Game one was a duel of the goalies that saw Drayton Valley skate away with a 1-0 overtime win. Colson Gengenbach scored the winner behind Eric Ward’s 34 saves.

Game two went in favour of Drayton again, 6-2, as the Thunder went three-for-six on the powerplay. Ward made 37 saves in his second straight stellar performance.

Bonnyville won game three 4-2 to breath some life back into the series from their end. The team went two-for-four on the powerplay and five-for-six on the penalty kill. Easton Hesse stood on his head for the Pontiacs, stopping 38 of 40 shots thrown his way.

The Pontiacs were able to tie the series at two after game four saw both goalies put on a clinic once again. Bonnyville walked away with a 1-0 victory when Kash Rasmussen scored a powerplay goal in the first period that held as the game winning goal. Hesse made 27 saves for his first shutout of the series while his counterpart Ward stopped 30.

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Game five saw Drayton Valley take the lead in the series with an overtime win. Gengenbach played hero for the second time in five games by scoring the game winning goal. Ward was phenomenal for his team, again, making 37 saves.

Game six saw the theme of stellar goaltending rise again, with both Ward and Hesse playing unbelievably. Ward stopped 32 shots for his second shutout of the series while Hesse allowed just one goal on 37 shots. The only goal in the game was scored by Tanner Hopps, which served as the game and series winner for Drayton Valley.

The Thunder will play either the Spruce Grove Saints or Grande Prairie Storm in the next round.