Hawks earn point vs. Mustangs; look back on positive week

Many Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) teams would be satisfied with a week that included a win over Flin Flon and a point against the Mustangs in three games, the rebuilding Nipawin Hawks had an optimistic week.

Saturday at the Centennial Arena the Hawks rebounded from a lacklustre 6-0 loss in Melfort Friday to grind out a 2-1 shootout loss against the SJHL’s top team on home ice. The Mustangs opened the scoring in the first period, Conor Ryan tied the game in the second, Gage Roberts and Madden Mulawka stopped everything else until the shootout before Reilly Kotai scored the lone goal giving Melfort the weekend sweep over their rivals. Head Coach Tad Kozun said his group got better as the game progressed and he was content with the result.

“I thought the first period we were kind of slow, but only down one. In the second from the 10-minute mark after we got that big powerplay goal to tie it up I thought we started to play. In the third period I thought we did a really good job of playing the way we needed to stay in the game with Melfort,” he said after the game.

The team was not happy with Friday’s result, the most lopsided Melfort win of their six over Nipawin this season. However, combining the bounce back effort with Tuesday’s upset of Flin Flon, Kozun saw a lot of growth with his young roster.