The Melfort Mustangs continue rolling as they won their eighth consecutive game to open up the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League season 5-2 at the Northern Lights Palace.
The Sept. 30 game against the Notre Dame Hounds was the Mustangs’ fourth in five nights, and despite playing so much hockey, the Mustangs came out flying, scoring three first period goals off the sticks of Vincent Beaudry, Adam Hergott and Tyson Meyers.
Trevor Blevins, the Mustangs’ head coach, noted the excellent start was a response from the night prior when he felt his team did not play their best hockey.
“I thought our compete level was night and day,” he said. “We just had a lot of speed, a lot of effort in our game. It was nice to see. Everybody right through the lineup really worked hard and we got rewarded with a good start.”
Seeing the players play so well throughout the game despite it being their fourth in five nights said a lot about the players, noted Blevins, including their commitment level and conditioning, noting they never missed a beat.
“We had lots of jump in our game, we had lots of energy. That was a bit of a concern going in but we’re a team that’s hungry right now and they want to take this as far as they can go.”
The Mustangs added a second period marker off the stick of Loch Morrison to lead 4-0.
Rock Ruschkowski sandwiched his first of the year around a pair of Hounds goals to round out the scoring.
After dominating the special teams battle against the Hounds just four days prior, the Mustangs once again got the better of the Hounds on the special teams as they held the Hounds scoreless on five chances, while the Mustangs scored two on the power play and two on the penalty kill.
Blevins was once again pleased with how his special teams played, noting anytime they can lead in those categories, it gives his team a great chance to win.
“We do spend a lot of time on it and we try and make it as sharp as possible but at the end of the day it’s the players that execute and put the effort in. I thought [Sept. 30] we definitely did a great job of that.”
Evan Plotnik picked up his eighth straight win of the season in the Mustangs goal turning aside 21 of the 23 shots he faced as the Mustangs outshot the Hounds 27-23.
Next up for the Mustangs is a road game against the high flying Estevan Bruins on Oct. 6.
The Bruins feature five of the top ten scorers in the league so far this season including the top two, who have combined for 36 points in just eight games, so shutting them down will be key, noted Blevins.
“If we can keep them off the scoreboard, we’ve got a chance to win. If not, we’ll be in trouble.”
