(Mat Barrett/Melfort Mustangs)

By Mat Barrett

Opening Night

Mustangs need ‘more consistent effort’ after opening night loss in Flin Flon

Sep 17, 2022 | 8:54 AM

It was certainly an entertaining affair to open the 2022-2023 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season in Flin Flon.

However, the Melfort Mustangs fell to the Bombers by a 2-0 score to drop to 0-1 to start the season. Mustangs Head Coach and General Manager Trevor Blevins said he needs to see the whole group put forward a consistent effort and compete level moving forward.

“Some guys played well, and some didn’t,” Blevins said. “And that was kind of the difference I think.”

One couldn’t fault Mustangs netminder Joel Favreau in this one as the 20-year-old stopped 29 of 30 shots that came his way in the contest. The only goal he let in was a two-on-one that featured two of the Bombers most lethal forwards in Jaeden Mercier and Cole Duperrault. Duperrault finished off the play for his first of the season to make it 1-0, but that wasn’t until the five minute mark of the third period. Prior to that, it was back and forth all game with both teams getting their opportunities.

In the Flin Flon net, Harmon Laser-Hume was excellent, stopping all 34 shots he saw on the night.

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Duperrault would add an empty netter late in the third period to make it 2-0, putting the final nail in the coffin for the game.

Blevins said while it is the first game, and there’s some positives to take, there’s still work to be done.

“I didn’t mind us when we had time and space, we could make some plays, I thought we were good off the rush,” he said. “I thought we generated. Do we need some work defensively? Yeah, for sure. Do we need some guys to play harder? Yeah, for sure.”

Fortunately for the Mustangs, they’re back at it on Saturday night as they host the La Ronge Ice Wolves for their home opener. Puck drop at the Northern Lights Palace is 7:30 p.m.

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matbarrett@melfortmustangs.com

@matbarrett6