(Mat Barrett/Melfort Mustangs)

By Mat Barrett

New Year, Same Mustangs

Mustangs stay hot as calendar turns to 2022 with win over Hawks

Jan 2, 2022 | 11:14 AM

Whether it’s 2021, or 2022, the Melfort Mustangs continue to win SJHL hockey games.

On Jan. 1, the Mustangs defeated their rival Nipawin Hawks by a 5-1 score at the Cage in Nipawin, their fourth straight win over the Hawks, and ninth straight win overall.

The Nipawin Hawks seemed to hold the edge in period number one, but if it weren’t for an 11 save period from James Venne, the score could’ve been much worse than 0-0.

“The first period we actually didn’t play,” said Mustangs’ assistant coach Danny Meyers. “We didn’t even come out with any effort, we weren’t moving our legs, we were standing still, and Nipawin kind of brought it to us just because we weren’t playing our game.”

It wouldn’t take long into period number two before the Mustangs turned things on and took the game over. Alex Moar, and Dawson Leroux each scored before a minute had ticked off the clock, while Logan Cox added one a bit later and Melfort us all of a sudden up 3-0 just over three minutes into the period. Ben Tkachuk added one just before the 10-minute mark and Melfort led 4-0 through two periods.

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Tkachuk added a powerplay marker in the third period to make it 5-0 before Evan Bortis broke the shutout for James Venne late in the third, giving Melfort the 5-1 victory.

Meyers said that with three key 20-year-olds out of the lineup, and a few other important pieces missing, this Mustang team maybe still has another gear.

“We’ve got lots of pieces still missing, and when everybody gets back, I think we’ll be that much stronger,” he said. “We’ve got lots of good chemistry in the room and the boys are feeling good.”

Melfort now improves to 22-9-1-4 on the season and is back in game action on Tuesday when they visit the La Ronge Ice Wolves.

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matbarrett@melfortmustangs.com

On Twitter: @matbarrett6