The Christmas break seemed a good one for the Yorkton Terriers as they returned to action with two wins over rival Melville.
The first win after the traditional Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League break came Friday at the Farrell Agencies Arena.
Jared Legien opened the scoring for the home side 8:49 into the first period, with LJ Naccarato adding a powerplay marker at 18:42.
McKenzie Welke and Quinton Hobbs scored in the first half of the second frame to make it 4-0 before Mitchell Torrens responded for the Mills at 11:22 to make it 4-1. The score would hold the rest of the way.
Nathan Hargrave made 30-saves in the Terrier net.
Naccarato said the Terriers came back from the break with a renewed focus.
“We’re taking every game after the Christmas break as a playoff game,” he said, adding the teams knows they must win game “to move up in the standings.”
The Terriers game out in the game pushing on offence,
Naccarato said that too was a desire from the team knowing “the first period is always a little tougher,” coming off a break.
Getting the first goal was big too.
“You definitely want to get the first one,” said Naccarato, adding it came off some good work. “… We were getting on them quick, taking away time and space.”
Naccarato said the team wanted to get shots toward the Mills’ net, and keep pressure on them.
On a personal note Naccarato said this has been a better season for him.
“I’ve definitely improved a lot from last year,” he said, who has 15-points to-date. “I’m playing with a lot more confidence.” He added the confidence has come with experience, now just three-games shy of 70.
Terrier Assistant Coach Mat Hehr said he liked the early effort by the Terriers to set the momentum on the home side early, adding while they put pressure on Melville they were also able to keep their emotions in check.
“We did a good job of pressing their ‘D’,” he added. “We kept our feet moving.”
Hehr said the Terriers went to the net well too.
“Against a bigger goalie like Wells … you try to get into his eyes,” he said.
On defence Yorkton made it tough on the Millionaires to get in close, said Hehr, who added by taking away the middle ice, Melville has to take a lot of their shots from the perimetre.
The teams met again Sunday afternoon in Melville in the rivals’ traditional New Year’s Day match-up.
Hargrave would be the Terrier of the day turning away 28-shots to record a shut-out.
On offence the Terriers would pound 38-shots at Mills netminder Brandon Wells, scoring a trio of goals for the win.
Kaleb Bell gave Yorkton a lead with the only goal of the first period at 6:40.
In the second Hobbs would strike 19-seconds in, and Evan Werle added a powerplay marker at 9:46 to round out the victory.
The pair of wins raises the Terrier record to over .500 at 17-16-1-4-2 for 37 points, third best in the Viterra Division. Estevan sits atop the Viterra with 51-points, with Weyburn second with 39. Melville is fourth with 30.
