Stettler captain Landon Potter led by example last weekend as the Lightning made hay in their Heritage Junior Hockey League playoff series against the Mountainview Colts.
Potter scored two third-period goals, including the winner with 8:02 left, as Stettler posted a 5-4 victory on Saturday night at Didsbury to open a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Northern Division semifinal.
Game 3 was scheduled for Stettler last night, after the Independent went to press. For a report on that game, visit www.stettlerindependent.com.
After winning the opening game 4-1 last Friday at the Stettler Recreation Centre, the Lightning were locked in a battle Saturday at the Didsbury Recreation Complex. Towering defenceman Kevin Vandenhoven had scored to pull the hometown Colts into a 4-4 tie with 11:45 remaining.
Shortly afterward, the Lightning were upset when their money goaltender, Simon Thieleman, was knocked to the ice and the Colts weren’t penalized on the play.
“Simon getting bowled over and no call on the play, it kind of sucked for everyone, so we knew we should try and get one for him, since he’s been playing so well,” said Potter, who responded with the winning goal.
“I heard what happened was the (Mountainview) guy that was skating didn’t really see how tight he was, and Simon was out (from his net) a little bit. Simon went down for a little bit, and then he got back up and finished the game.
“Simon is a main piece of the team this year. He took a pretty hard hit in the third period and I had a talk with the ref, who it seemed didn’t really see it. We were kind of upset about that, (but) I think that really boosted everyone up. Everyone started fighting through everything, and then we ended up scoring right after that happened.”
For the second time in the final period, Potter scored with help from his linemates, Kyler O’Connor and Jake Schwarzenberger.
The veteran trio also combined on Schwarzenberger’s first-period goal, as part of a nine-point night.
Potter finished off a 3-on-2 rush to beat Connor Slipp for the winner.
“There was a pass across and it ended up going off one of our player’s skates and it came right to me in the slot,” Potter said. “I just saw an opening over the goaltender’s shoulder, on the blocker side, and I just decided to see what would happen and I took a good shot.
“It was awesome. We really shut them down after that. As a team, we all came together.”
Adam Ternes and Dylan Houston also scored for Stettler as part of their two-point games. Scott Ternes added two assists to give that high-powered line six points on the night.
Thieleman made 36 saves, three more than Slipp.
Tyson Schmidt, Denis Lawrence and Braeden Anderson had the other Mountainview goals. Ryan Klinck bagged three assists, and Vandenhoven collected two points.
Just four points separated the second-place Lightning from the third-place Colts in the regular season, during which they were 2-2 in head-to-head play.
After facing each other three times in the final three weeks of the regular season, the teams built up a rivalry that spilled into the playoffs.
“It’s going pretty well — we won both games,” Lightning defenceman Steven Fletcher said after the weekend action.
“It was pretty rough, though. That’s just how (the Colts) play — they’re a big, physical team. We handled it pretty good, I guess, for how small we are.”
The Lightning were missing forwards Derek Muhlbach and Wyat Haustein, “our two biggest guys,” said Fletcher, a Castor native in his second year with the Lightning.
Work commitments out of town also kept those players out of the lineup last night, but they’re expected back for this weekend.
Game 4 goes Friday night at Didsbury.
If necessary, the teams face off Sunday at 5 p.m. in Stettler, with a possible Game 6 slated for next Tuesday night at Didsbury and a seventh game slated for Friday, March 7, in Stettler.
The Lightning have positioned themselves to make it a short series.
“The second game was crucial, for sure,” Potter said before Stettler took a 2-0 series lead into Game 3 at home. “Coming home, if we can go up three (games) and really hurt them, that’ll be good.”
At the same time, the Lightning had to dig deep to earn their victory Saturday at Didsbury.
“It was just a really physical game,” Potter said.
“The ref wasn’t really calling much, so we were kind of fighting adversity there.
“We’re missing some big guys — Wyat Haustein and Derek (Muhlbach) would have really helped out, with their size. They’re working up north right now, so we’re a little short bodies. We handled it, for sure, but it would definitely be nice to have a few bigger guys.”
Stettler gained offence from multiple sources in averaging 4.5 goals per game on the weekend.
“Our line was working really hard,” Potter said of Saturday’s effort. “We’re a veteran line, so we knew we had to kind of step up and we ended up pulling through. Lots of credit to my linemates, too, we really played good at the end.”
The Lightning are making the most of the franchise’s first playoff action since the 2009-10 season.
“We’ve had the team to do it the last couple of years, but this year, we just put our nose to the grindstone and had a really good season, so it helped,” said Potter, who turned 21 last October.
As is the case for many of his teammates who juggle hockey with job or school commitments, Potter works full-time with ATCO Electric as a power lineman.
“We’ve had nights where we haven’t had everybody, but still, throughout the year, we dealt with it,” he said. “We had a really good season, so obviously it didn’t hinder us too much.
“I get lots of support from the people at work. Everyone likes coming out and watching the hockey games.”
Potter is a former football player with the Stettler Wildcats high school team. His girlfriend, Justine, is a sister of Lightning teammate Steven Fletcher.
Although the Lightning are showing promise for an extended playoff run, Potter knows his junior B hockey career is on the home stretch.
“I’m going to miss competitive hockey,” he said. “I’m going to have the itch to go out and play senior next year. We’ll have to see.”
Potter’s sports-minded family from Stettler includes his younger sister, Dani, a sophomore with the Thunderbirds rodeo team at New Mexico Junior College.
“She’s doing really good,” her brother reported. “She misses home a lot, but she really like it down there.”
Lightning 4 Colts 1
In their Game 1 victory at home, the Lightning received a goal and an assist from Randon Rankin, both on the power play.
Houston also scored during a man advantage, while Stettler also got goals from O’Connor — just 11 seconds into the game — and Connor Doucette.
Klinck, on the power play, was the lone Mountainview scorer against Thieleman, who made 38 saves.
Blackfalds leads Three Hills
In the other Northern Division semifinal, the top-seeded Blackfalds Wranglers dumped the Three Hills Thrashers 10-3 in the opening game Sunday.
Game 2 goes tonight at Three Hills.
Jared Guilbault scored three goals and set up another for host Blackfalds, while Robin Carlson added two goals and four assists.
Russell Olson tallied twice for Three Hills, which had just defeated the Red Deer Vipers on Saturday in the best-of-three survivor series between the North’s fourth- and fifth-place finishers in the regular season.
The Thrashers beat the Vipers 3-1 in Game 3, after opening with an 8-7 win in double overtime and losing 6-4 in Game 2.