The Banff Hockey Academy Bears felt the thunder at home, losing 6-4 to the Stettler Lightning on Saturday (Nov. 7), while snapping a two-game win streak for the Rocky Mountain team.
A hat trick by Bears forward Ayrton Chapman and a late surge by BHA fell short of a comeback against their HJHL rival.
The Bears (8-6-1) never fully recovered after being stuck in a deep hole when they gave up four consecutive goals in the second period.
“We didn’t come ready to win a hockey game; we didn’t come out of the chute well and that, for me, made it hard to find momentum when you don’t start with it,” said coach Bill Doherty after the game.
The team will have nearly a week off between games and, having gone one for four on the powerplay on Saturday, Doherty said that would be an area of a focus.
The game was tied at one after the first period, but the Lightning quickly took the lead in the second with Derek Muhlbach scoring just 30 seconds into the frame.
The Bears came within inches of tying the game a few minutes later after a shot on net beat Lightning goalie Travis Green, but not the post. Just 20 seconds after the missed shot, a faceoff in the Bears’ end lead to Stettler’s Chandler Knibb finding the back of the net.
The Bears surrendered two more goals in the middle frame before Chapman and Rei Kikiuchi cut into the lead after a perfectly placed pass during a rush to end the second.
After a sluggish two periods and down three goals, Banff’s intensity increased in the third period.
“The one thing about our group, they respond very well. Unfortunately, we respond usually to something negative,” said Doherty. “One of the goals we’re trying to establish is to be more proactive in our game plan, meaning we need to assert our game rather than wait and see what’s going to happen.”
After a quick goal by Stettler to open up the final frame, the Bears pressured the Lightning throughout the period. Bears’ point leader Blaise Arkle lit the lamp halfway through the period and Chapman notched his third goal of the night less than two minutes later.
A breakaway by Banff’s Mitch Wainman could have cut the lead to one, but during the follow through of his shot, his stick splintered in his hands.
The Bears failed to capitalize on a final power play that ended any hopes of a comeback.
Doherty said the team needed to perform better in front of goalie Adas Pietrasik.
“We’ve done a great job of reacting and making comebacks … but it unfortunately requires an emotional outburst or deficit to get us in that position,” Doherty said.
The Bears will play three games over three days, starting with a road test against the Three Hills Thrashers on Friday (Nov. 13), the Coaldale Copperheads on Saturday and on Sunday, the Bears wrap things up at home against the Airdrie Thunder at 4 p.m.
