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By Mat Barrett

Mustangs v.s. Hawks

‘Nothing sweeter’: Stakes high as Mustangs get set to battle Hawks in home and home

Mar 1, 2019 | 4:08 PM

It’s two of the biggest meetings in recent memory between a pair of rivals in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).

The Melfort Mustangs and Nipawin Hawks are set to do battle in a weekend home and home set on March 1 and 2. The rivals are tied for the Sherwood Division lead right now with 76 points, which is also best in the SJHL. Results from the games on the weekend will have a massive effect on the Sherwood, and SJHL standings. As it stands, Melfort has the tiebreaker (regulation plus overtime wins (ROW)), but Nipawin is only 2 ROW’s behind the Mustangs.

Mustangs Head Coach Trevor Blevins said it’s a fun time in the SJHL right now.

“There’s probably nothing sweeter than those games when you play Nipawin in a home and home,” Blevins said. “And it just means so much in the standings.”

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It’ll be the ninth and tenth meetings of the season between the two teams, and Melfort currently has a 5-3 lead in the season series. However, Nipawin has outscored the Mustangs 19-18 through those eight games, including a 5-2 and 7-2 win in the most recent meetings in January.

Just three games remain on both teams’ schedules, and a lot is still to be decided. Blevins said every game is a playoff game at this point.

“It’s so tight and it’s great to see for our league,” Blevins said. “But also, it just brings that intensity every night that’s needed for playoff hockey.”

Recently, the Mustangs have been on a screaming hot stretch, winning 10 straight hockey games. As for the Nipawin Hawks, they have lost four of five games.

Friday night’s game is in Nipawin, and Saturday night will be played in Melfort. Both games can also be heard on CK750, with Winmar Tisdale SJHL Hockey kicking off at 7:15 p.m. on both nights.

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matbarrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6