Storm come up short in Sherwood Park

Wednesday night in Sherwood Park was an oppurtunity for the Storm to run their winning streak to 5 games as they faced a Crusaders team that gave them their first loss of the season back on opening night.

After a poor start on saturday night at home the Storm were looking to come out sharp and take the game to their opponents however 35 seconds in Ryan Matthews was called for hooking which saw the Crusaders take the early momentum out shooting grande Prairie 7-0 early until the visiting side got their feet under them and began to push back.  The teams traded chances for the most of the first as Nick Kulmanovsky stood tall in net.  the period woulf finish scoreless with the shots 14-11 for the home team.

A strong start to the second period earned the Storm an early powerplay and after some quality chances by Mike Forsyth and Gus Correale as the penalty was expiring a turnover deep in Storm territory led to a momentum shifting goal as Sherwood Park would open the scoring.  Again the Storm pushed back but were thwarted by strong defensive play from the home team as they were collapsing well in front of their goaltender and forcing most pucks to the outside which seemed to frustrate Grande Prairie.  Late in the second frame Grande Prairie would another powerplay but again were not able to convert.  On a late powerplay after a breakdown in the corner Sherwood Park would take a 2-0 lead on a pp goal from Stefan Bazar. Shots after the second were 22-16 in favor of the home team.

Once again the Storm were faced with a third period deficit and although they have battled back in those situations the past couple of wins a solid goaltending performance from Jacob Suppes and 2 more goals against, the backbreaker being a shorthanded marker at the 8:12 mark after a lost foot race in the neutral zone.  Andrew Taverner would make no mistake for 3-0 Crusader lead.  they would add one more late to make it a 4-0 final.  Grande Prairie continues its 3 game road trip with a travel day Thursday to Fort Mcmurray where they face the Oil Barons Friday and Saturday night and will look to get back on the winning track.  Finall shots on goal were 26-26.