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Bantam Moose inspire hope in pre-season game

Bantam Moose work out the kinks in a pre-season game against Hughenden.
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Eric Taylor (#7) and teammates Ethan Little and Kaiden Thomson watch the puck slide into the net as the eventual game-winning goal late in the second period in the Mooses’ 6-5 win Saturday

The pre-season is for working out the kinks and getting the team to work towards its potential for when the season really begins. That’s exactly what the head coach of the Ponoka Bantam Moose is looking to do after the team hung on to victory on Saturday, Oct. 10, on home ice.

The Moose edged the Hughenden Jets 6-5, but nearly gave up a four-goal lead in the third.

“We have a really good group here that have lots of potential and are really fun to watch,” said Moose head coach Ryan Raugust.

“Our forwards are pretty fast and skilled and our defence is so big with some skills that they can use their bodies to move people around. It’s a good style of play for us.”

The Moose took the game to the Jets early, opening up a 3-0 lead in the first period. Mathias Sandin and Eric Taylor each scored two minutes apart near the midpoint of the opening frame, while Seth Gratrix put the puck in the net with less than a minute remaining in the period. Brendan Patterson followed that up just 16 seconds into the second to put the Moose up 4-0 before the Jets got on the board less than two minutes later.

Taylor notched his second goal of the game with about six minutes gone in the second, followed by the Jets cutting the deficit to 5-2 with a power play goal with just over six minutes remaining in the period.

The Moose restored the four-goal margin with a power play goal of their own, as Taylor slid the puck under the sprawled Jets goaltender for his hat trick with a 1:04 left in the second.

And it’s a good thing the Moose had that big lead as they got into some penalty trouble in third and ended up giving up three power play goals over an eight minute span.

To add to the trouble, the Moose weren’t able to take advantage of the few scoring opportunities they received in the final 20 minutes. That included a couple of power plays along with a few odd-man chances in front of the Jets net where the Moose forwards failed to connect.

Raugust added his team had their shots and played hard to the end, but they needed to capitalize more often.

The Moose will continue their pre-season schedule with a game in Rocky Mountain House on Saturday, Oct. 17, and then are back on home ice Oct. 25 versus Rimbey.