Riley Albert scored twice and added an assist to lead the Cut Knife Colts to a 5-2 win over the Battleford Beaver Blues Saturday at the Battleford Arena.
Beaver Blues goaltender Mitch Hawtin was tested early on, making a big kick save on a Cut Knife forward who was right in front of the net.
The Colts took advantage of a Battleford penalty. With Beaver Blues forward Brent Salzl in the box for hooking, Cut Knife forward Ashton Hewson caught a clearing attempt on the Beaver Blues blue line, skated through the defence and snapped the puck past Hawtin just before the penalty expired.
Hawtin bailed his team out again midway through the opening period. After Jon Kachur turned the puck over behind his own net, Cut Knife forward Troy Watt's shot was stopped by Hawtin's blocker.
Cut Knife extended their lead shortly after a Battleford penalty expired. Riley Albert gathered the puck after a deflection, deked and went backhand to beat Hawtin for his first of the night with five minutes left in the period.
The Colts kept the pressure on the Beaver Blues into the second period. Cut Knife scored midway through the second. Hawtin had trouble with Anthony Pernitsky's point shot. He was unable to catch the puck with his glove, which ended up bouncing into the back of the net.
Shortly after, Pernitsky and a Beaver Blues player were tangled up as they crashed into the boards behind the Cut Knife net. Pernitsky was helped off the ice and was unable to put any pressure on his left leg.
Kenton Albert was the beneficiary of a nice passing play by the Colts. He was the recipient of a great pass from Riley Albert and beat Hawtin from the slot to put the Colts up 4-0.
Frustrations started to boil over for Battleford with 1:36 left in the second. After the whistle, Beaver Blues forward Mitch Phillips was driven into the cross bar of the Colts' net by a Cut Knife defenceman. Phillips engaged in a shoving match with the defenceman, before Kenton Albert grabbed Phillips and a small fight broke out. It was interrupted almost immediately by the linesmen. Kenton Albert received a game misconduct for being the third man in the scrum. Battleford ended up with a seven-minute power play which carried over to the third period.
The Beaver Blues scored on the ensuing power play three minutes into the third period. Logan Weeseekase's point shot beat Cut Knife goaltender Josh Thomas high on his glove side.
Cut Knife regained their four-goal lead with under eight minutes to play in the third. With Beaver Blues defenceman Todd Heck off for hooking, Riley Albert scored his second goal of the game when he snapped the puck past Hawtin's blocker.
Battleford responded a minute and a half later. Heck made up for his penalty, blasting a shot from the point past Thomas' glove to make it 5-2.
Hawtin lost his second game of the season. Thomas picked up his third win and has allowed only four goals on the campaign.
In other SPHL action from last weekend, the Maymont Settlers doubled up the Perdue Pirates 10-5 Friday night.
Saturday night saw the Pirates drop the Meota Combines 5-3, the Hafford Mustangs won a wild game 9-8 against the Radisson Wheat Kings, the Shellbrook Silvertips beat the Settlers 5-3 and the Glaslyn North Stars take down the Spiritwood Timberwolves 6-3.
The Colts (7-2) regained sole possession of first place in the SPHL with 14 points. Maymont (6-3), Shellbrook (6-4) and Meota (6-3) are all tied for second with 12 points. Battleford (4-2) sits in fifth place, one point up on Glaslyn (3-4-0-1). Radisson (3-4), Hafford (3-5) and Spiritwood (3-6) are tied for seventh. Perdue (2-9) sits in last place with four points.
