(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

Going for game two

Mustangs win first game of playoffs over Klippers

Mar 22, 2025 | 12:56 PM

The Melfort Mustangs won game one of their round one playoff series over the Kindersley Klippers Friday night by a score of 5-2.

Although somewhat sloppy at times, Melfort never trailed and controlled most of the game over Kindersley en route to the victory.

“At the start, you could tell we had a bit of jitters and nerves, the first two periods we were just trying to find it, and then in the third we dominated and finished the game. Obviously, it was really important to get the first one at home, so that’s awesome, and now we build off that and get ready for game two,” said Mustangs assistant coach Tye Scherger.

“Give them credit, they’re a hard-working team that kept the game close. They come at you at all costs, especially on the forecheck, they swarm the puck and they get in there. We just got to be better in our D zone, we got to back-check hard and help our D out, and if we do that we’ll be just fine. We just want to stick to our game plan here in game two.”

Melfort opened the scoring just shy of nine minutes in as the SJHL’s top scorer, Reilley Kotai grabbed his team’s first goal of the postseason.

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A 1-0 lead would stand into the second period when Kindersley’s Cam Perlinger tied it less than a minute into the middle frame.

The Stangs would then score a pair of goals in less than a two minute span midway through the second stanza, the first of which came from Ashton Hutchinson.

Hutchinson tapped in a beautiful powerplay setup from Zac Somers, before Kotai scored his second of the game, giving the Blue and Green a 3-1 cushion heading into the final frame.

Mason Bueckert responded for the Klippers midway through the third to bring it back to within one, but Tristin Ziola responded for the Mustangs a couple of minutes later, restoring the two-goal lead.

Nic Andrusiak would later put the icing on the cake for Melfort, as he buried a long-range shot into the empty net with less than two minutes to go.

The Stangs, who only lost at home three times in 28 games during the regular season, will now try and use that advantage once again tonight as they go for a 2-0 series lead.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Northern Lights Palace, with the pregame show commencing at 7:10 p.m. on 105CJVR.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

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