By Jeff D'Andrea

Bears respond in must-win situation at Esso Cup

Apr 25, 2017 | 1:30 PM

The Prince Albert Northern Bears kept their Esso Cup playoff hopes alive with a huge 6-1 victory over the Mid-Isle Wildcats from Prince Edward Island Tuesday in Morden, Man.

That improves the Bears’ record to 1-2 at the national tournament, to keep them in the playoff hunt with two group stage games remaining. 

Bears forwards Camryn Amundson and Jadyn Kushniruk each scored twice for the Bears as they exploded offensively.

Knowing the game was a crucial one, the Bears completely stormed out of the gate with a 3-0 first period, outshooting the Wildcats 25-2.

Amundson opened the scoring with a backhanded shot in close.

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Camryn Amundson scores the Bears’ first goal, after great pressure from Jasper Desmarais and Kate Ball. Bears lead 1-0 mid-first pic.twitter.com/HcIeONNnMj

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) April 25, 2017

Kushniruk made no mistake on a big rebound to quickly give the Bears a 2-0 advantage in the first.

Jadyn Kushniruk gives the Bears a 2-0 lead, following in on Hannah Koroll’s rebound. Late in the 1st pic.twitter.com/oSxdMtDPCh

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) April 25, 2017

Amundson got her second goal of the opening period, shooting a quick one from the boards to make it a 3-0 game after the first period.

Amundson gets her second goal of the game, makes it 3-0 Bears. They lead by that score after 1st period and lead Wildcats in shots 25-2 pic.twitter.com/EC5qTU6vpC

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) April 25, 2017

The Bears kept the pressure on in the second period. Sierra Parenteau made a beautiful backhanded pass through traffic to Story Navrot, who made it 4-0 Bears.

Parenteau finds Story Navrot in front to make it 4-0 Bears. pic.twitter.com/FJrnozvk8J

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) April 25, 2017

Kushniruk got her second goal of the game with a snipe on a rush, after stripping a Wildcats’ defender of the puck.

Jadyn Kushniruk gets her second of the night. Bears leading 5-0 late in the second period. pic.twitter.com/jrxavh2a30

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) April 25, 2017

The Wildcats were able to get on the board to spoil Bears goaltender Ryan Fontaine’s shutout bid midway through the third period. Madison Vincent was able to find a loose puck in the crease to make it a 5-1 affair.

Madison Vincent gets the Wildcats on the board in the third pic.twitter.com/xaYBOiPakK

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) April 25, 2017

Miranda Heidt ended the game with a rebound goal of her own, giving the Bears a 6-1 victory.

Miranda Heidt makes it 6-1 as the Bears get their first Esso Cup win, over the Wildcats. pic.twitter.com/K4pFqFuVAj

— Jeff D’Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) April 25, 2017

That gives the Bears their first victory of the tournament, after dropping their first two games: 2-1 with the hosting Pembina Valley Hawks Sunday and a 5-1 defeat against the Durham West Lightning on Monday.

Coming into the Esso Cup, the Bears never lost three consecutive times this season. They only lost back-to-back games on one occasion, a 3-0 defeat to the Melville Prairie Fire on Jan. 15 then a Jan. 21 loss to the Swift Current Wildcats in Shellbrook.

Rest of the week

The Bears’ next action will be on Wednesday at 11 a.m. against the St. Albert Slash from Alberta.

The Bears will then wrap up the group stages with a game against les Harfangs du Triolet from Quebec Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

Playoffs start on Friday, with the medal games taking place on Saturday.

Drew Wilson will have live radio coverage of every game live on 900 CKBI. 

Live coverage and GIF highlights will be available on @jeff_paNOW. Full game reports, along with GIF highlights and other information will be available here on paNOW.com.

Jeff D’Andrea is paNOW’s sports reporter. He can be reached at jdandrea@jpbg.ca or tweet him @jeff_paNOW.