Going into the weekend the Yorkton Terriers knew that their two home games were going to be the last time they stepped onto the FAA ice for a long time as they are about to embark on their three week road trip to the North Division schedule. With the Harvest Showdown coming into town the Terriers are once again kicked out of the building and going into winnable games against the Nipawin Hawks and Estevan Bruins were hoping to secure maximum points before their road trip began.
Saturday the Terriers got the job done earning a 4-3 shootout victory over the Hawks. Jeremy Johnson scored a timely goal with under six minutes remaining in the third period to tie the game at three and send the game into overtime where the Terriers held on to secure full points in the shootout. Johnson also scored in the first period and notched the shootout winner while Kalium Gervais scored the Terriers second goal of the game early in the third period to spark the Terriers comeback. Kale Thomson made 20 stops in the win while earning his second shootout win of the season.
Tuesday saw the cellar dwelling Bruins visit the FAA with only two wins coming into the game it was expected that the Terriers would be able to come out and make quick work of the fifth place Bruins. However a rough night in goal for Kale Thomson created a 5-1 lead for the Bruins that even with a spirited attempt at a third period comeback was too much for the Terriers to overcome as they suffered their first home loss of the season.
The Terriers will now head out on a three week, seven game road trip to start the month of November. Stops include Kindersley, (twice) Battlefords, Humboldt, Flin Flon, and La Ronge. A 5-2 record on this road trip last year gives the Terriers hopes that they will be able to keep pace with Melville in the battle for top spot in the Sherwood Conference standings, but the Terriers already have road losses in Kindersely and Battlefords this season making this road trip no easy task.
This weekend will likely be the determining factor on if this road trip will be a success or a bump in the road for the Terriers as the play Kindersely Friday/Saturday before playing Battlefords Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in what is a grueling weekend slate for the Terriers. Former Terrier goalie Warren Shymko will be looking to reprise his fifty save performance in the Klippers win over the Terriers earlier this month and Battlefords earned a 4-3 win over the Terriers last week. If Yorkton can get three-five points out of this weekend, they should be okay for the rest of the much more spread out road schedule they will be facing in November.
Expect Dawson MacAuley to see more time in goal for the Terriers on the road trip as the compressed schedule this weekend combined with Thomson's performance on Tuesday night will have the Terriers testing out their goal keeping tandem and looking for the right route to take going forward.
A long November is in store for the Terriers and if they are going to continue to cement their post at the top of the SJHL they will need to do it on the road.
