The North Stars wanted to turn the page four days after a rare 7-1 defeat at the hands of the La Ronge Ice Wolves.
On the other side of the rink, Melfort was also looking to rebound, taking a 6-3 loss to Humboldt Tuesday. The Mustangs had been struggling as of late, winning just three of their last 10 games in regulation.
Both of the SJHL’s top offences clashed Wednesday night at Northern Lights Palace. The black and white had buried 177 goals this year coming into the tilt, while the Mustangs fired 168 pucks into the net, good for first and second in the league. With the recent struggles from both teams, something had to give in Melfort.
The offence was certainly on full display, combining for 11 goals in an exciting 6-5 win for the Melfort Mustangs.
Richard Palmer stood tall in the crease, making quality saves to keep the Stangs within reach all night long, stopping 42 of 47 shots.
Melfort got on the board in the opening frame after Wyatt Hinson took a pass from Brett Kitt in the slot, snapping the puck past the blocker of Tyler Fuhr to make it 1-0 Mustangs. The forward hadn’t scored in 19 games, but had two in as many nights, also tallying a goal against the Broncos.
The North Stars battled back after Troy Gerein scored his second of the season. Igor Leonenko used his big frame to deliver a punishing hit, chipping the puck loose behind the net. Number 25 found Kendall Fransoo on the point who threw the puck on the net through traffic, ricocheting off Palmer and onto the blade of Gerein.
The spark plug line continued to contribute offensively in the middle frame. Baxter Kanter chipped a pass off the boards to Rory Davidson, who then sprung Logan Nachtegaele on a partial breakaway. Nachtegaele made the most of his opportunity, beating Palmer five-hole for his fourth of the season.
The Mustangs exchanged blows with the North Stars throughout the tilt. As soon as an interference penalty to Teal Sobkowicz finished, Melfort fired the puck out of their zone, hitting him in stride. After knocking down the bouncing puck, Sobkowicz was able to deposit his 12th of the season, tying the game at two.
Coby Downs and the Battlefords restored their lead late in the second. Last week, Downs explained how ecstatic he was about playing with his linemates, well, a full line point explains why. Layne Young took a pass from Dustin Gorgi before faking a shot and finding Downs for his 21st goal.
The top offences went back and forth as Dakota Boutin corralled a pass from Hinson before breaking into the North Stars zone all alone down the right wing. He fired a shot past Fuhr to tie the game heading into the final frame.
The third period turned into a crazy one. Leading goal scorer in the SJHL, Travis Mayan, scored his 38th goal of the campaign through a screen to make it 4-3 Mustangs early in the final 20 minutes.
The Downs, Gorgi and Young line continued to roll after tying the game up at four. Downs took a feed from his counterpart, Gorgi, before firing a shot off the shin pad of the defence and into the net for his 22nd of the season. The line wouldn’t be done there, though.
On the man advantage, Gorgi made it two unanswered to give the Battlefords a 5-4 lead. While he was falling down, Gorgi corralled a pass from Downs, getting just enough on his release to beat Palmer for his 23rd, restoring the one-goal advantage.
“Offensively they’ve been generating off the rush, their confidence level is high and is another line we can lean on.” Hasselberg said of the second line, who combined for eight points on the night.
The storyline followed suit as Justin Boyer scored with two seconds left in the tilt to send this one to overtime. Fuhr came out of his net to play the puck, a bad bounce found the blade of Boyer who made no mistake in firing through traffic and giving his team a chance to earn two points.
The Mustangs did just that.
Only two minutes into overtime, Mark Zvonkovic tickled twine with his second goal of the season.
Now, the North Stars did register a point, and were 2.7 seconds away from making it two. But, as Hasselberg has said throughout the season, there are always lessons to be learned from wins and in losses. Adversity like this can only make a team stronger.
On deck are the Nipawin Hawks this Friday at the Civic Centre.
