Great goaltending and timely scoring are two recipes for success. Friday night in Whitecourt, the Grande Prairie Storm had both.
On a night the Storm were outshot 41-24, it was Nick Kulmanovsky and Ryan Baskerville who made the difference, leading the Storm to a 4-3 overtime win. Kulmanovsky showed why he was the AJHL's top goalie last year, stopping 38 shots on the night. Baskerville, meantime, came through with the game winner, 3:49 into extra time.
Sam Lawson had the only Storm goal in the first two periods, as the Wolverines led 2-1 through 40 minutes of play. Chase Thudium and Toby Shattler gave Grande Prairie a lead in the third, before the home side tied things up with about two and a half minutes to play.
Storm came away with the two points despite not winning the special teams battle on the night. Wolverines connected on two of eight powerplays, while the Storm were blanked on all seven manpower opportunities they had.
The win was Grande Prairie's first on the road this young AJHL season and improves the club's record to 3-1. They finish up their three game road trip Saturday night in Spruce Grove, before returning home for games next Friday and Saturday against Lloydminster.
– Story by Don Whiteford of www.PeaceCountrySports.com