Mustangs sweep southern trip

Mustangs open 2018 with win over Bruins

The Melfort Mustangs picked up where they left off as they knocked off the Estevan Bruins 4-2 in Estevan for their first win of 2018.

After winning their final two contests of 2017, the Mustangs showed no signs of rust in their Jan. 5 matchup.

The game got off to an excellent start for the Mustangs as Colin Schmidt scored his 13^th goal of the season, just 3:01 into the opening period to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately for the visitors they could not hold on to the lead as Michael McChesney scored his 18^th goal of the season at 10:44, sending the game into the first intermission tied at one.

The two teams then traded second period markers as Kaelen Holt scored his 23^rd of the year at 7:32 to give the Bruins their first lead of the game, and Reed Gunville responded with his first of two goals on the evening to send the game into period two tied at two.

With the game tied in the third, Rock Ruschkowski scored his seventh goal of the season at 14:26 to give the Mustangs their first lead since the first period,

Gunville then iced the game with his second of the night into an empty net to give the Mustangs the 4-2 win.

Special teams were solid for the Mustangs as they finished 1-for-2 with the man advantage and 3-for-3 while down a man.

Evan Plotnik picked up the win in the Mustangs goal, turning aside 28 of the 30 shots he faced as the Bruins outshot the Mustangs 30-27.

Mustangs survive third period collapse

Justin Ball played the overtime hero as the Melfort Mustangs knocked off the Weyburn Red Wings 5-4 in overtime in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action from Weyburn.

The game got off to an excellent start for the Mustangs as Carson Albrecht, and Colin Schmidt both found the back of the net to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead after one period of play.

Kalem Zary added his seventh goal of the season at 8:27 of period two to give the Mustangs a commanding 3-0 lead.

Dexter Robinson added a late second period marker to send the game into the third period with the Mustangs up 3-1.

The Mustangs regained their three goal lead at 6:22 of the third as Andrew Thompson scored his 12^th of the season.

Unfortunately for the visitors they were unable to bring the game home as Ben Hiltz scored twice, and Carson Scheschuk added a single as the Red Wings came back from 5-2 down to force overtime.

In the extra session, Ball converted a feed from Albrecht for his 14^th goal of the season to give the Mustangs their fourth straight win.

Special teams were even for both sides as the Mustangs finished 0-for-2 with the man advantage, while the Red Wings were 1-for-3 with a shorthanded goal against.

Hunter Arps picked up the win in the Mustangs cage, turning aside 14 of the 18 shots he faced as the Mustangs outshot the Red Wings 33-18.

The Mustangs will look to push their win streak to five straight on Jan. 9 when they play host to the Flin Flon Bombers.