(Photo courtesy/Broad Leaf Media, Facebook)

By Ben Tompkins

Righting the Ship

Mustangs in dire need of bounce-back effort as Bombers descend on the Palace

Feb 14, 2024 | 12:02 PM

The Melfort Mustangs are back in action tonight, as they welcome the CJHL’s best to the Northern Lights Palace.

The Mustangs will play host to the Flin Flon Bombers for the second time this year, as they look to take the edge in the season series, 3-2.

Melfort will have to pour on a much better effort on Wednesday, than they did this weekend, as they’re on the heels of a two-game sweep at the hands of the Humboldt Broncos.

Not only did they lose both games, but they also lost forward Ryan Duguay and defenceman Ty Thornton to injury.

The Stangs were outscored a combined 11-5 in the weekend set, while the Bombers are also coming off a defeat, 4-2 by the Estevan Bruins.

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“Our defensive zone definitely needs to change, we struggled on the weekend for sure and it’s something we went over in practice. I think we just need to come out and play Mustangs hockey and we’ll come away with two points,” explained forward Kaleb Binner, who will be back in the lineup after serving a two-game suspension.

“Obviously, it’s tough to sit and watch the team struggle a little bit, but I’m very happy to be back and I’m ready to go.”

The last time these two teams met, Melfort walked away with a 3-0 win at home, which marks the only time that Flin Flon has been shut out all season.

After failing to win the yearly matchup against Humboldt this past weekend, and actually being leapfrogged by the Broncos for third place, the Blue and Green is determined to not suffer the same fate and set the tone for the final contest of the year against their division foes.

“It’s gonna be a big one, we’re all excited and pumped up for them to come here because we know we can easily beat them and we know we play well against them, so it’s a huge game for us,” Binner added.

“We just want to get back to simple hockey and take care of the D zone, we know when we play top teams we got to bring our A game for sure, and we’re up there too and we’re still fighting to climb higher in the rankings, so we just got to play hard for a full 60 minutes and play great D.”

The match will also provide the Mustangs a chance to clinch a playoff spot. They will be postseason-bound if they get at least a point, or if the Melville Millionaires manage to beat the Hawks in Nipawin, in regulation or extra time.

Puck drop at the Palace is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8