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Chiefs blank Thunder at Esso Cup

The Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs manoeuvred through the choppy waters early and after scoring a late first-period goal it was all downstream from there, thanks to a vintage performance from netminder Sarah Murray.“We weathered the storm in the first period and after that we got our feet under ourselves and sort of gained a bit more control.
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Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff-RD girls hockey ----Edmonton Thunder captain Alexandra Poznikoff shovels the puck from her knees behind Red Deer Chief goaltender Sarah Murray during first period ESSO Cup action in Red Deer on Monday. Also in the play are from the left

The Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs manoeuvred through the choppy waters early and after scoring a late first-period goal it was all downstream from there, thanks to a vintage performance from netminder Sarah Murray.

“We weathered the storm in the first period and after that we got our feet under ourselves and sort of gained a bit more control. The third period was very evident of that, we didn’t give them very much,” said Chiefs head coach Tom Bast, following his host club’s second consecutive Esso Cup win Monday night at the Arena, 2-0 over the Pacific (Alberta/B.C.) champion Edmonton Thunder.

“The big thing is our goaltender once again held us in there until we could get our feet under us. No question, I’m extremely proud of these girls right now.”

Murray was flawless in the Red Deer net while turning aside all 32 shots she faced in the Canadian midget AAA senior girls hockey championship contest, including a handful of timely pad stops and in-close deflections.

“It was an all around good game, the team really kept pucks away from the net for the most part,” said the Calgary product. “It was an all around good effort.”

Considering the Thunder defeated the Chiefs in the provincial final last month, Monday’s victory over their arch-rivals was a downright statement.

“It was nice to get the win and the shutout was really nice too because we lost to them in our league final,” said Murray. “It was a little bit of revenge.”

Despite being outshot 13-8 in an opening frame in which they were assessed three straight penalties, the Chiefs got a goalmouth-scramble marker from Jordyn Burgar in the final minute.

“It felt good to get the team going. We had to crash the net to get one in,” said Burgar.

Added Murray: “It was a bit easier to play after that goal. Just getting the jitters out with the first goal was really nice.”

Defenceman Abagael Thiessen provided the tournament hosts with what proved to be an insurance goal at 2:49 of the second period, her power-play point drifting through a crowd and past Edmonton goal Tracie Kikuchi, who faced 15 shots overall.

The Thunder had their opportunities the rest of the way, but Murray and her teammates were equal to the challenge.

“Us, Edmonton and Calgary (Fire) had it out for each other all year and it feels great to get them (Thunder) now,” said Burgar. “This definitely felt good especially after losing to them in the finals at provincials. It feels good to get them when it counts.”

The teams were assessed a total of 12 minor penalties, including seven to Red Deer.

“The referees weren’t on our side, but that’s OK,” said Burgar. “We just had to battle through it and our penalty kill was strong tonight.”

“You never want to say anything about the officiating, but we took some bad penalties,” said Bast. “Some were questionable I thought, but that’s all right, it’s part of the game.

“You have to deal with stuff like this and our PK has been good all year. We got running around too much on that five-on-three (first-period disadvantage) but other than that we were sort of in control. And our best penalty killer was our goaltender, and rightfully so.”

In the end, the victory provided the Chiefs with a big boost of confidence heading into tonight’s 7 p.m. game against the Sudbury Lady Wolves, who are also 2-0 after grounding the Moncton Rockets 9-1 Monday afternoon.

“It’s a big confidence-builder for us,” said Bast. “We have Sudbury tomorrow, and Sudbury, they come hard. There’s not an easy game here. I just feel that our girls are ready and they’re rested.

“Our girls are enjoying the moment, enjoying the week, and we just have to continue to build. Our goal is to get into the (Friday) semifinals and once we get there you never know what can happen.”

The Thunder fell to 1-1, the same record held by the Saskatoon Stars, who were 3-2 winners over the Manitoba champion Central Plains Capitals in Monday’s first game.

Edmonton head coach Michael Majnarich credited Murray and the Chiefs’ defence for keeping his club off the scoresheet.

“She (Murray) played really well. It was one of those games where we just couldn’t buy a goal,” he said. “But I’m not taking anything away from their team defence. They were solid, they were all over us all night.”

As the shots on goal would indicate, the Thunder are a team that prefers to push the play.

“We pride ourselves on our skating, but we didn’t get to the dirty areas quite as much as we’d like to tonight,” said Majnarich. “We’d throw some shots from the outside at the net and we weren’t creating chances off the rebounds.

“But give credit to Red Deer. They blocked the lanes and didn’t allow us that easy access to the net.”

• The Lady Wolves got two goals from each of Melisa Kingsley and Taylor McGaughey in their one-sided win over Moncton. Karli Shell, Jamie Ricci, Sophie Lebrun, Sydney Walker and Tayler Murphy also tallied for Sudbury, while Brooke Murphy notched the lone goal for the Rockets, outshot 60-20.

• Nara Elia potted two goals and Julia Rongve scored once as Saskatoon slipped by Central Plains, whose goals were supplied by Chelsea Hallson and Tamara McVannel.

Emma Johnson made 23 saves as the winning goaltender. Kathleen Kosior blocked 17 shots at the other end.

In today’s other games, Moncton faces Central Plains at noon and Edmonton takes on Saskatoon at 3:30 p.m.