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Hawks 4 Humboldt 1

With a share of first place in the Sherwood Division on the line the Nipawin Hawks picked up a huge 4-1 win over the Humboldt Broncos in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action in Nipawin on Feb. 17.
Hawks v Humboldt
Hawk Josh Bly prepares to shoot during the home game against Humboldt Feb. 17. Review Photo/Devan C. Tasa

With a share of first place in the Sherwood Division on the line the Nipawin Hawks picked up a huge 4-1 win over the Humboldt Broncos in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action in Nipawin on Feb. 17.

The Hawks jumped out to an early lead thanks to a first period power play goal from Tanner Thompson.

Despite holding the lead, Doug Johnson, the Hawks’ head coach, was not overly pleased with the effort they showed in the first.

“I thought we were a little lethargic. We were sitting on our heels a little bit, just kind of complacent with the win on Tuesday.”

Johnson said they lit a fire under the players’ tails during the first intermission and it paid immediate dividends as Grant Baetsen put the Hawks ahead by two goals just 13 seconds into the period, and Eric Bolden and Josh Bly added two more later in the period to give the Hawks a 4-0 lead.

Getting the goal just 13 seconds into the second period was a real turning point in the game, Johnson noted.

“You get that goal early, you can kind of see Humboldt get back on their heels and we just carried the momentum and it served us well for the rest of the game.”

The Broncos did get one of the goals back in the third but they could not get any closer as Kristian Stead turned aside 11 of the 12 shots he faced in the third and 27 shots overall to pick up the win.

The win was huge for the Hawks as it not only tied them with the Bombers for first in the Sherwood Division but it exacted a little revenge on a Broncos team that had won three of the four games between the two teams heading into the contest.

“Humboldt may have caught us on some days where we weren’t at our best…we just really focused on the defense, putting pressure on their back end and it served us well,” said Johnson of the adjustments made.