The Melfort Mustangs win streak was snapped by Yorkton Terriers on Tuesday night. (Mat Barrett/northeastNOW staff)

By Mat Barrett

Streak snapped

Mustangs win streak ends in tough loss to Terriers

Feb 26, 2020 | 2:20 AM

The Melfort Mustangs’ five game winning streak came to a halt on Tuesday, Feb. 25 in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) action as they fell 3-1 to the Yorkton Terriers.

The Terriers seemed to have a bit of jump early on in the contest, getting most of the scoring chances early on. Melfort did push back, but it was the Terriers drawing first blood as a bouncing puck found its way from Chantz Petruic to Alec Zawatzky and over the shoulder of Mustang netminder Shawn Parkinson to make it 1-0 with just over two minutes to play in the period.

Melfort came back buzzing in the second and seemed to have chances every time they entered the offensive zone. Even shorthanded, Colton Schell had a breakaway but was stoned by Terrier goalie Philippe Bond. Alex Rondeau had a great chance in front but was stopped by Bond’s stick, and Nolan Kadachuk had numerous open lanes to the net but couldn’t seem to sneak one by the Terrier tender. Melfort ended up firing 16 shots towards Bond in the period, where they also needed to kill off a pair of Yorkton powerplays.

“Excellent period in the second,” said Mustangs Head Coach Trevor Blevins. “I really thought we should have been up with the chances we had, definitely played well defensively.”

In the third, Yorkton was able to get their offensive groove back as they scored just 47 seconds into the frame as a back door feed from Kaeden Taphorn to Keenan Taphorn made it 2-0 Yorkton. Then a few minutes later, a Chantz Petruic point shot was tipped by Steven Norum and by Parkinson on a powerplay to make it 3-0 for the hometown Terriers.

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After that, things went back and forth for a while with both teams getting some chances, but neither goalie blinked. Melfort then started pushing back even harder with about six minutes to play, and it all started with a lengthy five-on-three. The Mustangs were able to get the offence going as an Alex Rondeau one-timer blew by Bond to make it 3-1. After that, Melfort had chances from every angle it seemed, but they could not beat Bond who stopped 34 of 35 in the game, including 29 of 30 in the final two periods.

Blevins said even though they were down 3-0 at one point, there were some things they could not control, and it was somewhat of a “gritty road game.”

“We’re not going to dwell on this one,” he said. “I thought it was a decent game for us, there wasn’t a lot of negatives and we just have to regroup and be ready for Friday.”

Melfort still remains in fifth place in the SJHL, and are just one point back of fourth placed La Ronge, and four points back of the third placed Terriers. However, Melfort does have a game in hand on both of those clubs.

A home and home with their rival Nipawin Hawks is on the horizon for the weekend.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

by Mat Barrett

Mustangs win streak ends in tough loss to Terriers

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