It doesn’t get much closer.
The Drumheller Dragons were on the road last night in Camrose to take on the Kodiaks in their den.
Both teams fought hard and in the end it was a shootout that decided the victor. The Dragons edged out the Kodiaks for a 3-2 win, their seventh in a row.
The first period ended in a scoreless stalemate. It was until halfway through the second period when the Kodiaks got on top with a power play goal, after the Dragons were a man down due to a high sticking penalty.
The Dragons offense finally broke through the Kodiaks defence with 10 minutes left in the game. Colton Vanucci, off of Mitchell Gartner and Christopher Rauckman, tied the game up. Seven minutes later, Rauckman, with an assist from Ryan Aasman, gave the Dragons a 2-1 lead.
The Kodiaks, desperate to tie the game, fought back. The Dragons defence tried to fend of the Kodiaks, but couldn’t keep them from scoring and tieing the game up with less than a minute of play left.
The game went through a scoreless overtime period and had to be settled in a shootout.
Dakota Zaharicuk was up first for the Dragons and snuck the puck by Kodiaks goalie Matthew Gibney. The Kodiaks retaliated with a goal of their own.
Four shooters from the Dragons and Kodiaks were denied before Stephen Doane sent the puck in for a Dragons goal. The Kodiaks had one more chance to come back, but Adam Beukeboom stopped them cold.
The win is the seventh in a row for the Dragons. The team is currently in fourth place in the southern division and only 3 points behind the second place Okotoks Oilers.
The Dragons are back at home for the next few games. Tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. the boys will be taking on the Whitecourt Wolverines. The following afternoon, at 2 p.m., the Kodiaks will be in town for a rematch.
Stephen Doane (pictured here versus the Calgary Canucks earlier this month) saved he day for the Drumheller Dragons, scoring the final shootout goal for a 3-2 win over the Camrose Kodiaks. Doane is one of the Dragons top scorers, with 10 so far this season.