(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

On a Roll

Coombs’ first career shutout propels Mustangs to 4-0 blanking of Bruins

Dec 7, 2023 | 7:54 AM

The Melfort Mustangs blanked the Estevan Bruins 4-0 on Wednesday night, pushing their win streak to three games in a row in the process.

The victory also represented the first career shutout for backup netminder, Kristian Coombs.

“It felt great, the boys played great defensively in front of me, blocked a lot of shots and made my life pretty easy, so it was great,” Coombs told northeastNOW.

With the win, the Mustangs were able to avenge a previous home loss to these same Bruins, earlier this season, in what was a back-and-forth 6-5 affair.

That game resulted in the most goals Melfort has given up all year, while Wednesday’s victory was the first time they’ve shut out an opponent.

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“It was great, I think my first Estevan game wasn’t my greatest, so this one felt good to get redemption,” added Coombs.

The Calgary product has now won his last four starts, while the Stangs are victorious in four of their last five.

After their two wins this past weekend against the Notre Dame Hounds, the Blue and Green have won three consecutive for the first time since they started the season 7 and 0.

“It feels so good, I love winning,” Coombs explained. “We just got to keep playing great defensively moving forward, I think that’s what our issue was in the games we lost, our offence is obviously pretty sick, so we just gotta keep it up defensively and we’ll do great.”

During the weekday contest, the Mustangs weren’t in their typical blue and green jerseys, as for the first time this year, they showcased their new alternates.

The team’s third jerseys featured an old horse head logo and were mostly black with some small touches of blue and green trim.

Meanwhile, it also wasn’t an entire lineup of regulars who got to don them for the first time, as the organization had two affiliate players in their forward group, due to an illness making its way through the group.

Despite more APs and young guys having to step up, Melfort got it done in the end, which has been a testament to their 2023 year so far.

“We just fill holes wherever we need them because it’s kind of a next man up mentality and it’s been real good for us this season,” mentioned Coombs.

The Stangs will next play at home again on Friday when they welcome the visiting Kindersley Klippers to the Northern Lights Palace.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8