Madden Mulawka embraced by his teammates after picking up his first career SJHL victory (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

First Career SJHL Win

Mulawka grabs first career W as Mustangs edge Bruins

Sep 28, 2024 | 12:41 PM

The Melfort Mustangs did just enough Friday night, as they took down the Estevan Bruins by a score of 2-1.

In the first-round rematch of last year, it was the Mustangs who scored the first goal of the game, doing so for the first time all season.

The goal, which came from Logan Belton on the powerplay less than three minutes into the first, after a nice tic-tac-toe setup, was the Manitoba product’s fourth on the year, his third of which has come on the man advantage.

He later scored his second of the game (his fifth of the season), this time at even strength, in the middle period, as he fell to one knee, absolutely sniping it over the shoulder of Bruins’ netminder Benjamin Polhill, to go top corner.

“The first thing about Belton is that he’s an absolute gamer, he loves the game so much, and I don’t think I have to tell him many times that he’s in the wrong because he’s always in the right spot. He’s a very smart player, obviously his skill is showing, he might be leading the league in goals, and he’s just a producer, so I’m excited to see what he continues to do the rest of the year,” said Mustangs’ assistant coach Tye Scherger.

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“Obviously, it’s always nice to start the game with the lead, you feel more comfortable, especially when you’re on the road. When we’re on the road with the lead, you get settled in a bit, so it was good to be up 2-0 after two.”

Following two goals from Belton it was the Madden Mulawka show, as Melfort’s newest goaltender, who is just 18 years old and was playing his first career SJHL game, looked like he had been in the league for years.

Whether it was sliding across and robbing an Estevan forward with the goal, on a 2-on-0, or fighting through traffic and preventing rebounds, Mulawka’s 27 saves on 28 shots were enough to keep Melfort afloat, especially in a third period in which they were outshot 16-3.

“Honestly, he looked like a veteran out there, as an 06′ rookie coming in as a young goalie, especially for his first game in the league, he stood on his head. He looked comfortable, and he looked calm in there, I could tell before the game he was very dialled in and focused, so good on him, and clearly he’s ready to go,” Scherger added.

“In the third we, I don’t know if we were just scoreboard watching or what, but we came out passive. At the 10-minute mark though, we came out, and we played our game, and we fought through and got an ugly one.”

The Bruins’ lone goal of the contest came exactly five minutes into the third, courtesy of Reed Gramlich.

That was all Estevan could muster though, as the Mustangs’ penalty kill was 5 for 5 on the night.

Next up for Melfort is a trip to Weyburn on Saturday.

The Stangs enter the matchup 3 and 0, while the Red Wings sit at 0 and 2.

“The first two of our the three wins were a bit ugly, but a win’s a win, so when you start 3 and 0, you just gotta keep going,” concluded Scherger.

“You can’t think about being unbeaten, you have to think about the next game, and we have to get better every game. Our compete level has to get higher every single game and we have to defend all three zones. The Mustang identity is all about taking away time and space.”

Puck drop is once again 7 p.m., as the pregame show will begin at 6:45 p.m. on 105 CJVR.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8