The East St. Paul Gators wrapped up a demanding four-game week with three victories, highlighted by a pair of comeback wins and strong goaltending performances against playoff-bound opponents in the Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League.
East St. Paul opened the stretch Tuesday night with a hard-fought 5–4 road win over the Macdonald Swarm at Gateway Rec Centre. Caleb Hofer powered the offence with a hat trick, including a powerplay marker early in the second period, while Adam Frick scored the game-winning goal midway through the third. Brayden Alf added a goal and an assist, and Aiden Poseluzney stopped 45 shots to earn the win as the Gators overcame three Macdonald equalizers.
The Gators followed up Wednesday with a 3–2 home win over the Red River Mudbugs at St. Jean Arena. After a scoreless 40 minutes, East St. Paul struck first early in the third on a goal from Aidan Park, assisted by Jonah Chaulk. Despite briefly falling behind, the Gators responded with goals from Frick and Luka Burgess, whose marker at 13:01 proved to be the game-winner. Preston Laschyn turned aside 27 shots in the victory.
East St. Paul continued its momentum Saturday night with a 5–2 win over the Grunthal Red Wings at the East St. Paul Community Centre. Kaden Coughlin scored twice in the opening period, while Frick added two more goals to finish the night with a four-point performance. Laschyn was again solid in goal, making 45 saves as the Gators pulled away with two late third-period goals.
The busy week concluded Sunday morning with a 5–3 loss on the road to the Niverville Clippers, snapping East St. Paul’s three-game winning streak. Game details were unavailable at press time.
With the week’s results, the Gators closed the regular season at 11-19-0, finishing ninth overall and earning a best-of-three play-in series matchup against Red River. Dates for the series had not yet been finalized.
