In order to have success in the playoffs the Grande Prairie Storm will need a several things.
Road wins, points from point-producers and good goaltending.
It was just a regular season tilt, but they got all of that Family Day Monday.
A 4-2 road win over the third place Whitecourt Wolverines; five points from their top two point-getters; and solid netminding.
As a result they maintain a three-point lead in fourth place in the Alberta Junior Hockey League and have guaranteed themselves no worse than a sixth-place finish in the North Division.
A 4-0 win by the Sherwood Park Crusaders over the Bonnyville Pontiacs Monday was bad news and good news for the Storm.
The Cru victory allows them to stay within three points of the Storm, but it also means the Pontiacs can't catch GP for fourth. They are 11 points back with four games remaining.
The win was the Storm's ninth on the road this season. They have beaten the third place Wolverines and the first place Spruce Grove Saints away from Revolution Place among those victories.
Leading the way Monday for the Storm was team scoring leader Justin Bernier with three assists. He sits in second place in league points with 74. Edouard Michaud, who is second in team scoring with 65 points and sixth in the league, pitched in with a goal and an assist including the game winner at 4:06 of the third on the powerplay.
Walker Cote scored the only goal of the first giving the Storm a 1-0 with a shorthanded tally.
Rookie Zach Okabe, the league's second highest rookie point getter with 52, scored the only goal of the second. Dallas Comeau scored the other Storm goal.
Spencer Augot, to make it 3-1, and Liam Motely, with the final goal of the game, scored for the Wolverines.
Veteran goaltender Charles-Olivier Levesque was solid in net for the Storm facing 42 shots while picking up his 20th win of the season. Xavier Potvin in the WW net looked at 24 shots.
The Storm win moves them six points up on the sixth place Lloydminster Bobcats. Lloyd lost 4-3 in overtime to the Camrose Kodiaks on Monday.
The Storm have six and the Cru and Bobcats five games remaining.
Next action for the Storm is Thursday when they host the second place Fort McMurray Oil Barons.