We had a good couple of games here on the road and it was good to see that the guys could battle back and get a point in both games
— Grant Ottenbreit
Kinsmen Terrier head coach
The Yorkton Kinsmen Terriers picked up two of a possible four points this past weekend, earning ties against Weyburn on Friday night and the Regina Rangers on Sunday night.
The two ties lift the Kinsmen Terriers (6-9-5) into a tie with the Regina Vics (7-9-3) for eighth place in the 14-team SSMHL Midget ‘AA’ division, two back of both Melville (8-8-3) and Weyburn (7-7-5) and five behind the fifth place Notre Dame Argos (11-9-0).
The Notre Dame Bantam Hounds (18-1-1) continue to lead the league with 37 points with the Midget ‘AA’ Hounds (11-5-4) 11 points back in second with 26. Estevan (10-6-4) sits third with 24 points and the Regina Rangers (10-5-3) are fourth with 24.
Moose Jaw (7-7-1), the Regina Capitals (5-8-3) and the Prairie Storm (5-10-3) sit 10 through 12 with 15, 13 and 13 points while Swift Current (6-11-0) and Lumsden/Bethune (0-16-1) round out the standings in 13th and 14th respectively.
Things started off well for the Kinsmen Terriers on Friday in Weyburn as Jordan Repsch gave Yorkton a 1-0 lead early on, but then things began to sour as the Kinsmen Terriers took penalty after penalty, amassing a total of 14 penalty minutes in the first period.
Luckily their penalty kill was nearly perfect, allowing just one power play goal; a Conor Lafoy marker scored on a full two-minute five-on-three that resulted in a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes of play.
The game remained even at one until the final six minutes of the second period when the teams would combine for three goals. Rhett Frey gave Weyburn a 2-1 lead when his shot eluded Dakota Berezowski, however Yorkton once again evened the game when Josh Rohatynsky put the puck past Talen King to make it 2-2.
It looked like the game would remain tied after two periods, however Lafoy had different ideas, taking the Trey Stocker pass and snapping the puck past Berezowski for his second power play goal of the game, this one scored with just 16 seconds remaining in the second frame.
Lafoy’s second of the night held up as the lead goal for nearly 20 minutes, but with Berezowski pulled in favour of an extra attacker the Kinsmen Terriers struck as Carter Lake hammered the puck past King to draw Yorkton even for the third and final time.
Two days later and the Kinsmen Terriers were back in action, this time looking for a bit of revenge against the Regina Rangers who beat them 4-3 back on November 28 in Yorkton.
The game didn’t start off the way the Kinsmen Terriers were hoping as the Rangers took advantage of some sloppy play early on to jump out to a two goal lead just over five minutes into the first period.
A Caden Durocher power play goal midway through the first frame cut the Ranger lead in half; then just 13 seconds later the game was all tied up as Colin MacDonald’s fourth of the season made it 2-2.
The 2-2 score remained until the 14:05 mark of the second period when Ashton Shewchuk gave Yorkton their first lead of the game, firing the puck past Nathan Moore for a 3-2 Yorkton advantage, however two minutes later and that lead was erased as Eskra beat Carter Park for his second goal of the night to send the game into the second intermission deadlocked at three.
An early Rangers goal off the stick of Reece Henry gave the Rangers a one goal lead at 4-3, but a Rohatynsky marker with just under nine minutes remaining brought the game even for the third and final time as the two teams ultimately skated to a 4-4 draw. “We had a good couple of games here on the road and it was good to see that the guys could battle back and get a point in both games,” said Kinsmen Terrier head coach Grant Ottenbreit following Sunday’s game, adding that it’s nice to see that his team is now getting points in games that they found out how to lose early this season. “The last seven games were one goal games and we were in every game and that’s all you can ask for, but we just struggled to get points. Now we’re getting points and things are starting to turn around for us and it’s good to see.”
The Kinsmen Terriers will hope to see some wins come their way this coming weekend when they host three different teams in three consecutive days at the Kinsmen Arena.
Friday they’ll welcome the second place Notre Dame Hounds at 7:30p.m., Saturday the Regina Vics are in town at 7:30p.m. and Sunday the Kinsmen Terriers hook up with their longtime Highway 10 rivals the Melville Millionaires at 4:00p.m.
