Oct. 11
The Melfort Mustangs put an end to their two-game losing streak in emphatic fashion as they routed the Melville Millionaires 8-1 in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action in Melfort on Oct. 11.
Trevor Blevins, the Mustangs’ head coach, was pleased to get the win, noting he did not feel like they played all that poorly in their two previous losses.
“It was just a matter of getting back on track and the guys were real focused. They realized how we had to play. It was just a good bounce back game and really when you can do that it shows the leadership and character in the dressing room.”
The Mustangs jumped out to a quick lead as Loch Morrison scored his fifth of the year of the power play and added another just over three minutes later, to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead before the game was five minutes old.
Getting such a quick start was huge, admitted Blevins, who said starting better had been something they talked about before the game.
“Unfortunately we had been struggling on some of our starts up to that point so that was a focus and it was nice to see. We had lots of jump to our game.”
The Mustangs added another goal off the stick of Boedy Donald, to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
The second period was more of the same for the Mustangs as Colin Schmidt, and Morrison scored goals in the first two minutes to give the Mustangs a dominant 5-0 lead.
After the Millionaires scored to cut the Mustangs lead back to four, Eric McNeilly scored his first career SJHL goal to give the Mustangs a 6-1 lead heading into the final period.
The Mustangs added two more in the final period as Schmidt scored his second of the night and Tyson Meyers scored his second of the year, as the Mustangs ran away with the 8-1 win.
Evan Plotnik picked up the win in the Mustangs goal turning aside, 29 of the 30 shots he faced, as the Mustangs outshot the Millionaires 41-30.
Overall Blevins was pleased with the effort, noting they had the pedal to the metal for the majority of the game.
“When we did get a little sloppy we recovered nicely and it was a great effort through and through almost as full a 60 minutes as you can have.”
Oct 13.
The Melfort Mustangs started slow but finished with a bang as they knocked off the Humboldt Broncos 4-1 in the first half of their Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League home-and-home series in Melfort on Oct. 13.
After starting the game scoreless the Mustangs scored once in the second period, off the stick of Andrew Thompson, and three times in the third as Justin Ball, Adam Hergott and Morrison all tickled the twine.
Blevins admitted that the Mustangs’ start was not good enough, but said he felt their second and third periods were real strong.
After rattling off three third period goals to win the game, Blevins noted he felt his team increased their play, which led to the goals.
“Our compete level changed, it continued on from the second period but I think we got rewarded for that. Our tempo did increase and our compete level got to where it needed to be too so we just need to be more consistent.”
Hunter Arps picked up his first win of the season for the Mustangs, in his first game since being reassigned to the Mustangs from the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League.
Arps turned aside 21 of the 22 shots he faced as the Mustangs outshot the Broncos 46-22.
With the Mustangs just receiving Arps back from the Royals, Blevins said he feels like the club has a real solid goaltending tandem to carry into the rest of this season.
“We’re excited to have that. If one gets banged up or a little off you can definitely have the confidence in the other to come in and get the job done.”
Oct. 14
The Melfort Mustangs got off to a slow start and it cost them as they fell 2-1 to the Humboldt Broncos in a shootout in the back half of their Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League home-and-home series in Humboldt on Oct. 14.
Blevins called the start weak, and said Humboldt came out with jam to their game that the Mustangs did not answer.
“You could clearly see right away they had a lot more jump and we just didn’t respond quick enough.”
The Mustangs found themselves down 5-0 on the shot clock early in the contest, and were down 1-0 by the end of the first period on the scoresheet.
After a scoreless second period, the Mustangs finally broke through in the third as Andrew Thompson scored his second goal in as many nights to knot the score at one.
The game remained tied into a shootout, where the Mustangs finished 1-for-3, and the Broncos 2-for-2, as the Broncos came away with the 2-1 win.
Despite starting slow, Blevins was pleased with how his team was able to respond, noting once they got going they played quite well.
“I thought we carried the play for the second half of the game.”
Blevins also gave credit to Broncos goaltender Jacob Wassermann, for the work he did in the Broncos goal.
“He really stood tall I really thought we had a big push in the third to try and win it and he was the difference there but obviously Humboldt did a great job against us.”
Plotnik returned to the goal after receiving a rare night off and was terrific turning aside 29 of the 30 shots he faced through regulation and overtime, as the Mustangs outshot the Broncos 36-30.
Next up for the Mustangs is a showdown with the still undefeated in regulation Battlefords North Stars in the Battlefords on Oct. 20.
Heading into that contest, Blevins noted he expects his players to play a 200 foot game for a full 60 minutes, but said they will also have to focus on some key players from the North Stars, including forward Layne Young.
“He’s probably one of the top forwards in the league and he’s obviously damaged lots of teams on the scoresheet.”
Blevins said keeping him off the scoresheet and getting to the North Stars goaltending, which is also very strong, will be important factors in the outcome of the game.
