Playing in front of scouts did nothing to slow the Melfort Mustangs at the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Showcase as they swept both of their games at the Hamm Latrace Arena in Saskatoon.
“I thought our effort was pretty good for six periods of hockey,” noted Trevor Blevins, the head coach.
“We really had great starts to the games and there was strong finishes, too. So I’m really very happy with the showcase and how the guys played as a group.”
The Mustangs kicked off the showcase on Sept. 26, when they knocked off the Notre Dame Hounds 5-2.
The club got goals from five different players in the win including Carson Albrecht, Vincent Beaudry, Kalem Zary, Justin Ball and Kayle Tosh, as they took leads of 3-1 after one and 4-2 after two.
A big key for the Mustangs in the game was on the penalty kill, as they scored two short-handed goals.
Blevins noted the key to their success on the penalty was getting in shooting lanes, blocking shots, and taking advantage.
“It was a really good effort for us. All year it has been on our penalty kill. We’re just taking away time and space, we’re making strong plays when we need to and we’ve been really aggressive on it.”
Evan Plotnik picked up his fifth straight win to start the season turning aside 23 of the 25 shots he faced as the Mustangs outshot the Hounds 29-25.
The Mustangs had a short turnaround as they returned to the ice the following afternoon to take on the Yorkton Terriers.
After a slow start, Andrew Thompson finally got the Mustangs on the board with a power play marker in the second period, and the Mustangs opened the floodgates in the third as Adam Hergott, Colin Schmidt and Ashton Oakes all found the back of the net to give the Mustangs a 4-0 win, and their sixth straight to start the season.
Despite not being able to muster up a goal for more than 33 minutes, Blevins was pleased with how the Mustangs were playing, noting that they had plenty of chances.
“We did have a lot of time in the offensive zone and in those situations you can get frustrated but we didn’t. We just stuck with it and we were mentally tough in that,” he said. “It was a great job by us sticking with it and being patient.”
Plotnik was solid once again in the Mustangs goal, kicking aside all 21 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season, as the Mustangs doubled up the Terriers on the shot clock 42-21.
