Melfort Mustangs vs. Estevan Bruins, Nov. 7
The Melfort Mustangs rode a hot power play to a 4-3 win over the Estevan Bruins in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action in Melfort.
The Mustangs finished Nov. 7 a perfect 3-for-3 with the man advantage, which simply came down to putting pucks on goal, noted Trevor Blevins, the head coach.
“We had some fortunate bounces too, really... it was an eye-opener for our power play too. When you can simply just get it to the net good things happen.”
The game got off to a slow start for both teams, as neither team managed to find the back of the net, in the first period.
The floodgates opened in the second as the teams combined for five goals.
Colin Schmidt got the Mustangs on the board first scoring his first of two goals on the evening at 2:51 of the second on the power play to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead.
Rock Ruschkowski extended the Mustangs’ lead to two goals with his second of the season, but the Mustangs could not keep the momentum going as the Bruins scored their first of the game just over three minutes later to cut the Mustangs’ lead to 2-1.
Kayle Tosh scored the Mustangs’ third goal of the period, and their third on the power play to extend the Mustangs’ lead to 3-1, with his third of the season at 12:49.
The Bruins answered late in the period to send the game into the third with the Mustangs leading 3-2.
The two teams traded goals in the third as Schmidt scored his second of the night before the Bruins answered back before the Mustangs skated away with the 4-3 win.
Defensively the Mustangs were pretty solid, noted Blevins, who was pleased to see his team limit the Bruins’ leading scorers to just one goal.
“Even though we got outshot on the scoresheet, I though we were okay defensively. But when we did give up some quality chances, Hunter Arps was great. He basically stood tall for us when we needed him. And really I thought that was the difference in our game.”
Arps finished the night as the game’s winning goalie turning aside 38 of the 41 shots he faced as the Mustangs were outshot 41-34 by the Bruins.
Melfort Mustangs vs. Nipawin Hawks, Nov. 10
A poor second period was the difference as the Nipawin Hawks fell 2-1 to the Melfort Mustangs in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action from Melfort.
After a solid first period Nov. 10, the wheels fell off a little for the Hawks in the second as they were outshot 14-7, gave up the only goal and were shorthanded three times.
“I thought that penalties kind of took away some of our momentum and we also were not able to capitalize on our chances,” noted Doug Johnson, the Hawks’ head coach of their second period.
After a quiet first period that saw neither team find the back of the net, the Mustangs struck first in period two as Tristen Elder scored his first of the year in his first game since being acquired by the Mustangs.
“He’s a big-time player. It’s good to see he’s getting some success with his first game. He’s going to have to shake some rust off here yet but it was a good start for him,” noted Trevor Blevins, the Mustangs’ head coach.
The game remained 1-0 in favour of the Mustangs until early in the third when Andrew Thompson score his sixth of the season to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead.
The Hawks pushed to get back in the game, but a goal off the stick of Brett Harasymuk with 23 seconds left in the game, was too little too late for the Hawks in their 2-1 loss.
Offensively, the Hawks struggled on the evening, as they managed just the one goal in the final minute, and only 23 shots on goal.
Johnson was quick to credit the Mustangs for their effort defensively, but says a lot of the blame falls on his team for their inability to score.
“We had chances, we didn’t bury and that’s been a theme for us lately. We also didn’t generate a lot of second opportunity chances, we didn’t have guys going to the net, we did not have guys willing to battle and win the confrontations one-on-one and it showed in the outcome of the game.”
The win pushed the Mustangs six points clear of the Hawks at the time and improved their head-to-head record against the Hawks to 4-0 on the season, which is huge, said Blevins.
“It’s going to come down to those divisional games typically... we play them ten times so for our start to be 4-0 against them is huge, but it’s a long season yet and there’s definitely a lot that can happen… we’re happy with our start against a tough rival like Nipawin, they’re always tough every year.”
Melfort Mustangs vs. Melville Millionaires, Nov. 11
A slow start dug the Melfort Mustangs an early hole, which they were not able to fully dig themselves out of as they fell 5-4 in overtime to the Melville Millionaires in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action in Melville on Nov. 11.
Starting games on the road has been a concern for the Mustangs this season, admitted Trevor Blevins, the head coach, who said they have been terrible starters.
“We’ve got to address this as a hockey club. Our preparation whether it’s mental or physical, it’s got to change and we can’t take 15 or 20 minutes to get going in a hockey game.”
The Mustangs were outshot 14-11 in the first period and outscored 1-0.
The Mustangs rebounded beautifully in the second period, scoring three times as Carson Albrecht, Justin Ball and Kayle Tosh all found the back of the net.
The Millionaires answered with a pair of goals of their own in the middle frame, sending the game into the third tied at three.
In the final regulation period, the two teams each scored once as Melville took the lead only to see Nolan Kadachuk respond for the Mustangs to send the game into overtime tied at four.
In the extra frame it was Cole Thompson who scored his first goal of the year to give the Millionaires the win.
Despite not getting the win, Blevins was pleased with how his team played after the first period, noting they woke up and started playing, but was also quick to credit the Millionaires for making it tough on his club.
“And as much as we had the puck and had lots of offensive zone time their goaltender had some confidence early and kept it going throughout the hockey game and we just couldn’t come out ahead.”
Hunter Arps was the hard luck loser in the Mustangs cage allowing five goals on 31 shots, as the Mustangs outshot the Millionaires 45-31.
The Mustangs enjoyed a quick rest before returning to the ice on Nov. 14 when they took on the Flin Flon Bombers.
Heading into the contest the Mustangs lost their only previous meeting with the Bombers in Flin Flon this season, and Blevins said the key for his team to be successful in Flin Flon this time will be being ready to go right from the first drop of the puck.
“[Nov. 14’s] a good test for us. We’re challenging our group to prepare mentally and physically here and have a strong start in a road game and we’ll see how we respond.”
