The Nipawin Hawks faced off against the Ice Wolves in La Ronge Friday. (Clark Stork/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

Streak Snapped

Hawks blow lead late, winning streak snapped in overtime loss

Jan 28, 2023 | 9:34 AM

The Nipawin Hawks were three minutes away from collecting their seventh straight win but gave up a late tying goal and the overtime winner in a 3-2 loss in La Ronge Friday.

Both Nipawin and the Ice Wolves had picked up a pair of wins in their season series that will conclude Saturday when the Hawks host La Ronge. Nipawin won the last matchup 3-2 on Jan. 11 at the Mel Hegland Uniplex.

La Ronge opened the scoring in the first period after Jackson Fellner mishandled the puck behind his own goal making it 1-0 Ice Wolves. The Hawks responded with a pair of goals in the opening period, Joel Mabin scored his 13^th goal of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season and Alex Johnson added his 10^th of the year.

The Hawks heavily outshot La Ronge throughout the game but sat back in the third period nursing a 2-1 lead. With just over three minutes remaining in regulation time, Kyle Graham tied the game for the Ice Wolves forcing overtime and Dylan Handel won it for La Ronge early in the fourth period. Nipawin Captain Maguire Ratzlaff said they let the win get away.

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“I thought we played a good first period, we tapered off in the second and sure enough they get some momentum going in the third,” he said after the game. “I thought we had some good shifts, but they capitalized on their chances and that’s what it came down to.”

Fellner finished with 29 stops in the loss, Topher Chirico was named the game’s first star making 44 saves in the La Ronge net.

The Hawks do pick up a point in the loss and extend their streak in that regard to seven. Ratzlaff said that’s a positive.

“We’ve been on a host streak and I think we can still play with confidence,” he added.

The Ice Wolves now have a slight edge in the season series after the win. The Hawks can answer at home and take three of four points on the weekend to close a great month of January.

“We’re confident in our abilities and if we show up with that confidence tomorrow I don’t think we’ll have a problem,” Ratzlaff concluded.

Face-off is 7 p.m. at the Centennial Arena.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork