(Mat Barrett/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Mustangs Playoffs

Giesbrecht stands tall, Mustangs go up 2-0

Mar 31, 2019 | 4:03 PM

The Melfort Mustangs now have a 2-0 series lead on the Estevan Bruins in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) semi-finals after a 3-1 win on Saturday, March 30.

The first period was scoreless, but the Bruins had the majority of the scoring chances in the frame, even though the shots were 7-7 after one.

In the second, just over five minutes in, Estevan opened the scoring, just as they did in game one. This goal was scored by Jayden Davis who found some room and ripped a backhand by Mustang netminder Noah Giesbrecht. It was the sixth time in the playoffs out of seven games that the Mustangs gave up the first goal, and Head Coach Trevor Blevins said they need to figure out why that happens.

“We were tentative with [the puck], we weren’t confident, we weren’t hard with it,” Blevins said. “But, it was almost like we woke up when they scored and we responded right away which was great.”

THIS IS A PLEA FOR HELP!

Mayor in Loon Lake requests support in wake of criminal activity, church fire

21h ago

Trojans opening weekend

Tisdale Trojans drop 4-3 decisions to Estevan to open 2024-25 season

Oct 01, 2024

Point in Time counts

Point in Time counts taking place in Melfort, Nipawin today

Oct 01, 2024

And, respond right away they did as just 17 seconds after the Bruins made it 1-0, a Nolan Kadachuk point shot was tipped in by Tanner Zentner to make it 1-1. Things stayed tied after two periods.

In the third period, the Bruins were pressing, but Noah Giesbrecht kept standing tall. The Mustangs made it 2-1 when a breakout pass got to Justin Ball and then found Carson Albrecht for an phenomenal goal.

Justin Ball tipped in another Nolan Kadachuk point shot to make it 3-1 with over 10 minutes to play and Melfort got going on defence. The Bruins pressed hard, but a few penalties sunk them late. They fired a total of 30 shots towards Noah Giesbrecht, and the Mustang goalie stopped 29 of them. Blevins said his netminder was fantastic.

“Noah Giesbrecht was great,” Blevins said. “He made some big saves there on a couple of turnovers we had and they had an odd man rush. So, he’s been excellent.”

Games three and four of the series go Tuesday and Wednesday, April 2 and 3 in Estevan.

–

mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6