(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

Halfway There

Mustangs bring 2-0 series lead back to Melfort

Apr 21, 2024 | 9:36 AM

The Melfort Mustangs did exactly what they hoped to accomplish and a whole lot more in Flin Flon this weekend, taking Games 1 and 2 of the SJHL Finals over the Bombers.

Not only did the Mustangs earn more than a split on the road to start the series, but they did so in pretty dominating fashion.

“We’re heading home 2-0 Melfort, so let’s get up, that’s all I can say, pack that Palace because we’re gonna get it done at home. We didn’t play as well as we did on Friday but we still came out on top, so kudos to Venne, the guy stood on his head all night, in the third we fought through a lot of adversity once again and we came out on top, so I’m proud of the boys,” said assistant coach Tye Scherger.

“Games three and four are at home, so we’re gonna get a lot of energy from the crowd, so pack the Palace, we’re gonna play our identity, play Mustang’s hockey, hard, grit, compete pure heart and obviously big character guys.”

Melfort outscored the league’s number one regular reason team 13-3 through two games, following up their 9-2 win with a 4-1 victory.

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For the second night in a row, it was the Bombers who opened the scoring, but after that it was all Stangs, as they scored four straight behind a massive penalty kill unit and strong performance from their netminder.

Flin Flon went 0 for 7 on the man-advantage, which included four and five-minute-long powerplays, as they failed to get back in the contest.

“Straight work ethic and pure heart from our kill, so proud of our guys, they do everything, put everything on the line and do everything to get the kill, and then obviously for Venne, like I always say, he’s the backbone of our team and that’s a fact,” Scherger told northeastNOW.

Venne stopped 42 of 43 saves he faced on the night, as he was positionally fantastic, frustrating the Bombers constantly.

As for Flin Flon’s goalie, Harmon Laser-Hume, he struggled once again, as he’s now allowed 11 goals on just 55 shots against to begin the series.

“The biggest thing we’re saying to our guys is just shoot the puck. He looks like he’s struggling with the puck a bit, so obviously when a goal is struggling you got to shoot the puck and get to the net and that’s what we did,” added Scherger.

Games 3 & 4 go Wednesday and Thursday at the Northern Lights Palace, as the Blue and Green hope to carry their momentum back home.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @BenTompkins_8