Joe McWilliams
Lakeside Leader

Hockey games with 22 goals don’t happen that often, but now one has right here in Slave Lake. The Icedogs scored 13 of them in a four-goal win over the Mackenzie Mountaineers on Saturday night.

It’s probably fair to say there wasn’t a lot of defence being played – at least not very effectively – in the game. But a couple of Slave Lake defenceman were doing good work in the offensive zone. Griffin Thiessen had a three-goal outing, and his blueline partner Austin Gaspar chipped in with a goal and five assists.

Otherwise, Nolan Marshall continues to pile up the points – seven of them for the game. Loïc Dury and Nolan Janvier both had five points. Connor Jonson faced 44 shots in the Slave Lake net.

Mackenzie only dressed 10 skaters – two of them being the Roth brothers, who played for the Icedogs until recently. Even with the depleted roster they managed 44 shots on goal and nine goals.

The game had a lot of penalties. The Icedogs scored six times with the man advantage.

On Sunday in Gibbons, the Icedogs again got off to a tentative start against the winless Pioneers, and trailed 2 – 1 after one. But in the second they figured out what was what and scored five straight to open things up. The final score was 10 – 5 for Slave Lake.

Nolan Marshall had another huge game, scoring five times and assisting on four others. He’s played half the number of games as some of his teammates, but is already second in team scoring and putting the heat on leader Dury. Dury wasn’t too shabby either, with a five-point outing. Gaspar and Thiessen continued to roll as well, getting five points apiece. Johnson faced 40 shots in the Slave Lake net.

The Icedogs are now off until Jan. 8, when they host the Northern Alberta Tomahawks.