The Yorkton RawTec Maulers picked up one win in two opportunities this past weekend against the Moose Jaw Generals – a team that they are trying to distance themselves from in the SMAAAHL standings.
On Saturday the RawTec Maulers got first period goals from Drayson Skulmoski and Kaeden Taphorn and a second period marker off the stick of Taylor Elmy to lead 3-2 after 40 minutes, but a late game collapse allowed the visiting Generals to storm back and take a 4-3 lead on goals by Evan Thomas and Chantz Petruic before Thomas sealed the deal for the visitors with an empty net goal with 10 seconds left in the game.
Jordan Schmuland took the loss for the Maulers stopping 15-of-20 shots while Hunter Arps turned aside 33-of-36 Mauler attempts for the win. “We let them off the hook by making a couple of errors that they were able to take advantage of,” noted RawTec Mauler head coach Graham Garrett following the game. “We were shutting them down, then we made an error on a fore-check that allowed them to come out with speed and then we made an error at our blue line not making a strong play to get the puck out and those mistakes sometimes cause you to lose a game and that’s what it did for us.”
Garrett said that Saturday’s game was very reminiscent of their first meeting with the Generals this season back on Thursday, November 12. “It was almost identical to the first game,” offered Garrett. “We talked about how we’ve let these guys off the hook in two games this season by allowing them to score late goals.
“We can’t do that if we want to be one of the best teams in the league.”
On Sunday the two teams met up once again, but this time the Maulers put together a full 60-minute effort to secure a very valuable two points.
The Generals opened the scoring midway through the first period when Caleb Riess put the puck past Mauler goaltender Alex Geddes, however things could have been much worse if not for the Yorkton penalty kill, who killed off a full five minute disadvantage when Damian Bentz was issued a five minute major and a game misconduct for checking from behind. “I thought our penalty kill was extremely good again today,” said Garrett, continuing, “When you kill off a five minute major where they weren’t even able to get shots to the net, then you know your P.K. is working.”
A pair of second period goals, one each from Carson Miller and Derrick Budz, gave the Maulers a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes; a lead that they would not squander this time as they limited the Generals to just six shots in the final period.
Churchbridge native Colby Entz was the hard luck loser, shouldering the loss despite turning aside 28-of-30 Yorkton attempts while Geddes picked up the win between the Yorkton pipes, stopping 17-of-18 shots. “Their goaltending always gives them an opportunity to win and that’s why they have the record they do, but today Geddes was able to make a couple of key saves for us and get us the win,” said Garrett. “That’s all we were asking for and that’s what he gave us today.”
Garrett then said that Sunday’s victory was huge for the team; not just in terms of the standings, but morale as well. “A win here was huge for us,” suggested the Maulers head coach. “It was almost a must win for us and we were able to accomplish that and now we’ve got to take that mentality and that momentum on to the road here when we take on four of the top teams in the league.”
Up next
The Maulers are in Regina tomorrow (Thursday) before traveling to Wilcox on Sunday to take on the Hounds and Tisdale on Tuesday to face the Trojans.
