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By Ben Tompkins

Battle of the Best

Mustangs welcome North Stars for 1 vs 2 battle atop SJHL standings

Nov 29, 2024 | 2:00 PM

The top two teams in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League will face off tonight when the Melfort Mustangs welcome the Battlefords North Stars to the Northern Lights Palace.

Melfort has played Battlefords just once so far this season, which also came at home, back on Oct. 22. The Mustangs shut out the Stars that night as Kristian Coombs made 32 stops in the 4-0 victory.

“They’re a different team now,” said Stangs’ defenceman Bo Eisner. “They’re really hot right now, so it’s the top two teams in the league going at it and it’ll be a good game… they’re a ver highly skilled team, they work hard, and I think they’re more balanced than they were last year. They’ve got four lines rolling right now, so they’re a good team.”

The Blue and Green are also on fire as they enter the Friday night contest winners of their last six.

Five of those have come by just a single goal as Melfort has shown they have the confidence and experience to pull out a full two points from highly contested matchups.

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“We’re rolling right now, so we just have to keep the momentum going, keep the morale high, and just play our game,” Eisner added. “We’ve found ways to win games this year and I think that just shows how much experience we have in these situations from last year, going all the way to the Centennial Cup.”

The 17-4-0-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL) Mustangs, who are 11-0 in one-goal games, have also protected leads well this year and are seldom behind.

Melfort is 11-0 and 13-0 when leading or tied after the first, and 5-0 and 3-0 when leading or tied after the second.

Tonight’s game, the Blue and Green’s only this weekend, will begin at 7:30 p.m.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8