(Mat Barrett/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Mustangs v. Klippers

Mustangs have Klippers against ropes after game three win

Mar 19, 2019 | 11:57 AM

The Melfort Mustangs are now just one win away from the semifinals of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) Playoffs.

On Monday, March 18 the Mustangs went into Kindersley and defeated the Klippers 4-3 without holding a lead until late in the game.

The Mustangs seemed to control the first four minutes or so of the game, leading the shot clock 6-0 at one point. However, that was short lived as the Mustangs took three penalties between then and the 10-minute mark. Austin Nault and Tyler Traptow of the Klippers both had powerplay goals to make it 2-0 early. Melfort responded with a goal from George King, and then a nice point shot from Jake Hobson to make it 2-2. Head Coach Trevor Blevins said discipline needs to improve after taking four penalties in the frame.

“I thought our discipline was a little off tonight,” Blevins said. “I don’t know if it was the emotion of [the game], or the referee was calling different things. It is what it is, you can’t control it. But we got into a little bit of trouble too managing the puck five on five in our zone that period. One thing about it, we sure shaped it up in the second.”

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The Mustangs only allowed seven shots in the period, and not many of them were high end chances. The only Klipper goal came just under 14 minutes into the period from Ty Enns, on the powerplay. However, the lead didn’t last long as Justin Ball tied things up 19 seconds later and the teams were tied again at the end of the second.

Ball scored again for the Mustangs early in the third, to take their only lead of the game, but it was the only lead they would need as Melfort held of Kindersley’s surge late to come away with a 4-3 win. Blevins said they really buckled down in the third.

“In the third, it was just a matter of who wanted it more and if you got the right break or not, and we did get the breaks,” Blevins told northeastNOW. “But I also thought we worked for it too. We didn’t have the best of games, obviously, but we will take it on the road. There’s nothing to be negative about this time of year, because it’s playoff time.”

The Mustangs now lead the best of seven series 3-0, and have a chance to win the series on Tuesday, March 19 in game four back in Kindersley.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6