(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

Weekend and season series sweep

Mustangs clutch in overtime, escape Battlefords with four points

Mar 3, 2024 | 8:35 PM

The Melfort Mustangs showed up in the biggest way this weekend, earning all of a possible four points on the road.

Despite being massively undermanned, playing back-to-back games with just 10 forwards, Melfort went into Battlefords and completed the weekend sweep.

“The heart, the drive, the character, every single one of those guys came to work this week and I’m super proud of them,” assistant coach Tye Scherger told northeastNOW.

With the two victories over the North Stars, which included a 5-4 overtime victory Saturday night, the Mustangs also gained sole possession of second place in the SJHL standings.

With just four games remaining on their schedule, the Stangs are in full control of their destiny on where they finish heading into playoffs.

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“The next stretch here, our focus is to keep building for playoffs, keep working hard, keep being good in the D zone and keep working hard in practice and keep preparing for playoffs,” added Scherger.

The Blue and Green ended Saturday night’s game in extra time, capitalizing on their opportunity with the powerplay.

It was definitely needed as fatigue was showing during the third in which Melfort gave up a lot of shots, however, minimizing the ‘Grade A’ chances.

“The biggest thing we said pregame was to defend all three zones and if we were lacking energy then cheat to the D side of all three zones and we did that tonight,” Scherger explained.

“This weekend was huge for a playoff prep, let’s say playoffs are four games in six nights, they’re gonna feel this, they’re gonna feel a tiredness, injuries and stuff like that, so for them to battle through this weekend was just awesome.”

The Mustangs are now home and will return to the ice on Wednesday when they host the Flin Flon Bombers, hopefully, with a fuller roster.

As for this past weekend over the North Stars, the two victories also gave the Stangs the season series sweep over Battlefords, meaning they hold the playoff tiebreaker.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8