The Sherwood Park Crusaders made the long five-hour drive north this weekend to take on the Grande Prairie Storm for the first since the 2018 postseason.
The back-to-back games began on Saturday evening at the Revolution Arena. The Crusaders got off to a rough start conceding midway through the first from an Alex Nordstrom goal. However, the travelling Cru responded fantastically in the second and third with seven unanswered goals. The comeback began on the powerplay at the seven-minute mark of the second when Brett Wieschorster tied the game with his fourth of the season. Garrett Clegg and William Zapernick followed him up with two goals in the dying minutes of the frame. Sherwood Park kept their foot on the pedal in the third adding four more from Carter Savoie (2), Wieschorster, and Clegg. In goal, Matt Berlin made 41 saves to pick up his eighth win of the season.
The next day, the two teams were in action again in the early afternoon. This time, Carter Gylander got the start for the Crusaders as he sought out his fifth win of the season. The game started more positively for Sherwood Park who got on the board first from Savoie. Shortly after, Savoie capitalized on a Storm turnover and scored his second of the game and his fifth in three games. The scoring continued with goals from Wieschorster and Tyson Scott. Grande Prairie did add one late from Jared Power to shatter Gylander’s hopes of a first career shutout. However, Gylander did make 28 saves that afternoon to secure the victory.
Next up for the Crusaders is a trip to Whitecourt on Friday to face off against the Wolverines. Fans can watch that game at Average Joe’s Sports Bar in Sherwood Park.