The Yorkton RawTec Maulers picked up two big wins this past weekend, first downing the visiting Saskatoon Blazers 5-1 on Saturday before coming back from a two goal deficit a day later for a 3-2 victory at the Farrell Agencies Arena on Sunday.
The two wins give the Maulers a record of 13-5-1 and four important points in the hotly contested SMAAAHL. The pair of positive decisions also sees them move into a three way tie for second overall with the Moose Jaw Generals (12-2-3) and Prince Albert Mintos (13-4-1) at 27 points, three back of the league leading Regina Pat Canadians (14-4-2).
The Notre Dame Hounds (11-6-1) sit four points back of the Maulers in fifth with 23 while the Tisdale Trojans (10-7-2), Beardy’s Blackhawks (10-8-1) and Battlefords Stars (6-9-2) round out the top eight with 22, 21 and 14 points each.
The Saskatoon Contacts and Swift Current have identical 3-13-1 records for 11 points, the Blazers (5-12-0) are one point back in 11th while the Notre Dame Argos (4-9-1) hold down the last spot with a nine points.
Saturday
Third year Mauler veteran Damian Bentz had a pair of goals and first year midget forward Kaeden Taphorn had a goal and an assist as the Yorkton RawTec Maulers dropped the Saskatoon Blazers 5-1 Saturday afternoon.
Rookies Carson Miller and Brett Kemp also tallied for the Maulers in the win while Jordan Schmuland had a relaxing night in net, improving his personal record to 10-2-1 by stopping 14-of-15 Blazer shots in a game that head coach Graham Garrett felt was dominated by his club. “We played a style of game that we needed to and we wore them down as the game went on,” said Garrett, adding it only took one goal to get their offence fired up. “Once we were able to solve Gryzbowski (Saskatoon goaltender Joel Gryzbowski) once we knew what to do and eventually got four by him and I thought it was a pretty solid win for us.”
Garrett also mentioned that his team was very solid defensively, giving the Blazers nothing on the offence. “They struggle offensively as is, so when we play that well it’s really tough for them,” suggested the Mauler head coach, continuing, “We also kept the shot total down and keeping them below 20 shots was great for us and our defence.”
Sunday
The two teams hooked up again on Sunday for another afternoon affair; however things didn’t start out well for the RawTec Maulers in the second half of the two game set as Kyle Botsch gave the Blazers a 1-0 lead late in the first period.
A Landon Markovich power play goal with 7:18 remaining in the second period made it 2-0 for Saskatoon and things were looking bleak for the home team until a trio of Mauler rookies took turns putting the puck past Gryzbowski as Brett Kemp, Keenan Taphorn and Kaedan Korczak all found the scoreboard late in the second period to give the Maulers a 3-2 lead through 40 minutes.
A scoreless third period in which the Maulers limited the Blazers to just five shots – only one of which was on a late power play with the goalie pulled – saw Yorkton pick up their 13th win of the season 3-2.
Gryzbowski shouldered the loss for the Blazers stopping 32-of-35 shots while Yorkton net minder Alex Geddes picked up the win in his first start since November 8th. “It was really important for Alex Geddes to come out and get a win,” offered coach Garrett on his backup goaltender. “It’s been a while for him so it’s good to see him come in and have a solid game and get a win for himself and get that confidence up again.”
Garrett then mentioned that while Geddes hasn’t seen much game action as of late, he has constantly put forth a strong effort in practice which shone through Sunday afternoon. “He’s always working hard at practice and he doesn’t complain,” said Garrett, continuing, “If you’re that goaltender that is only getting sporadic starts then practice becomes that much more important so that when you do get your opportunity to play you can play well just like he did today.”
Next action
The next action for the Yorkton RawTec Maulers (13-5-1) will be this weekend when they host the visiting Moose Jaw Generals (12-2-3) in a battle of second place teams.
Game time for both Saturday and Sunday is set for 2:00p.m. at the Farrell Agencies Arena as the Maulers look to gain some revenge on the Generals after Moose Jaw beat them 4-2 on Thursday, Nov. 12.
