By Nathan Kanter

Alm huge for AAA Stars in weekend split

Oct 24, 2016 | 10:39 AM

The shots piled up against the AAA Stars once again this weekend, and once again Lance Alm was up to the task.

The veteran goaltender did all he could in back-to-back games against Tisdale, stopping 40 of 43 shots in a narrow 4-2 defeat on Saturday, and then stopping 40 of 43 shots once again in a 4-3 win on Sunday. 

“Obviously Alm is one of the best goaltenders in the league and he really showed it here,” Tisdale Trojans head coach Darrel Mann said following Sunday’s game. “You want to get a lot of traffic and you want to throw lots of pucks at him. Obviously we threw 43 at him [again] tonight and I thought we did a pretty good job with traffic. But we had a couple there late where guys have got to be baring down and putting pucks in the net.”

Alm not only stopped 80 of 86 shots within a span of 27 hours, but he also got the win last Wednesday in a shootout against the Saskatoon Blazers. He made 38 saves on 41 shots in that game and then stopped five of seven shooters in the shootout.

On the season as a whole, Alm has faced the most shots in the league, 247, and made the most saves, 232. His .939 save percentage is second in the league among goalies who have played at least four games (he’s played in six).

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“It’s a mind game but it’s what you work hard all summer [for],” Alm said on facing so much rubber. “Then you have your conditioning up so you [are] able to face that many shots.”

Alm said the problem in Saturday’s loss was giving up in the second period when the team had a two-goal lead.

The second period is when Tisdale notched three straight goals, while out-shooting Battlefords 21-8. They would go on to add an empty netter and win 4-2.

“I think we got some momentum back in the third period [in Saturday’s] game and I think we took that momentum and brought it onto [Sunday’s] game,” Alm said. “We all played well and did the little things right today.”

Discipline has been an issue that has plagued this team early in the season.

So is it improving?

“Some games it is and some games it isn’t,” Alm said. “Against the Blazers [on Wednesday] we were more disciplined but today again we took a little bit of penalties we didn’t need.

“Emotions just get going I think in a game like that. It’s a high, intense game. Things like that are going to happen but we need to still be patient and take smart penalties if we take them and don’t take the selfish penalties after the whistles.”

Deserving of some recognition in Sunday’s win was Stars defenceman Dysen Rhinehart, who scored his first career AAA goal in the second period.

The Paynton, Sask. native let a shot go from the blueline that found its way past goaltender Ethan Anders to give Battlefords a 3-1 lead.

“I couldn’t really think about anything,” Rhinehart said when asked what went through his mind when he scored. “It was just a head rush and I was ready to go to the bench … I was pumped for it.”

The AAA Stars have started the year with six of their first seven games at home, but now they will hit the road for seven consecutive contests.

They won’t play their next home game until Nov. 17 against the Beardy’s Blackhawks.

“Road trips are always nice,” Alm said. “Get some bonding in with the guys and get to know each other a bit better. So its going to be nice to get on the road a bit I think.”

The first road game is Thursday, Oct. 27 in Saskatoon against the Contacts. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m.

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.Kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11.