(Mat Barrett/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Third Period Lead

Mustangs give up lead but take positives from loss to Hawks

Nov 15, 2020 | 3:08 PM

The Melfort Mustangs dropped their second game in a row on Saturday, Nov. 15 against the Nipawin Hawks by a 3-2 score in Melfort.

Melfort had the 2-0 lead a few minutes into the third, but the Hawks were able to mount a comeback and score with less than a minute to play to take the lead in the game.

“In the moment, you feel like you gave up some points because of the late goals we got scored on,” said head coach Trevor Blevins. “But, there’s a lot of positives that came out of it too.”

Blevins said he felt their goaltending was excellent on Friday and Saturday, with Steven Bacovsky stopping 32 of 35 shots in Melfort, and as well when Joel Favreau stopped 20 of 22 shots in the 2-1 loss on Friday in Nipawin. Blevins also thought the teams compete level was good for the greater part of the Saturday game as well.

He said things took a turn after Ben Tkachuk made it 2-1 early in the third period.

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“Not that we stopped working,” Blevins said. “But it was more, I thought we were really tentative, and when you have a team down 2-0, you’ve got to learn to go get number three, or at least put the nail in.”

Colton Schell opened up the scoring for the Mustangs in the second period, and Blevins said even some of their veterans haven’t played in situations like this before, making the whole process a learning curve early in the season.

Blevins also gave credit to the Hawks, who are now 4-0-0-0 to start the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League season, saying they’ll be one of the top teams in the league, and they’re a good measuring stick for his Mustangs.

“I think we got a pretty good start, in regards to how we competed against them both nights,” he said. “And where we are as far as depth in the lineup in comparison.”

Melfort, who drops to 2-2-0-0 on the season look to get back in the win column on Friday, Nov. 20 as they head to La Ronge to take on the Ice Wolves in the first half of a home and home set.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6