(submitted photo/Jaret Schneider)

By Mat Barrett

Canalta Cup Final

Defence dominates as Mustangs take game two of Final

Apr 14, 2019 | 12:42 PM

If you like defence, then game two of the Canalta Cup Finals in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) was for you.

With the Mustangs down 1-0 in the series to the Battlefords North Stars, they needed a response on the road before games three and four back in Melfort. And respond they did as they walked away with a 1-0 win to tie up the series. Head Coach Trevor Blevins said he was very pleased with his teams defence.

“They worked hard for their turnovers, and so did we,” Blevins told northeastNOW. “It was just playoff hockey really, it was kind of anybody’s game and I thought we did a great job sticking with it.”

In that first period, it was high paced frame with both teams getting chances, but maybe Battlefords getting a couple more as they outshot the Mustangs 12-9 in the period, but Mustang netminder Shawn Parkinson was on his game, making big save after big save, even when the North Stars were crashing the net hard.

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In the second frame, the Mustangs picked it up another notch. They didn’t have as many shots in the period, but did get some good scoring chances that didn’t result in a shot on goal. Then, just over halfway through the period, Kayle Tosh broke out of the Mustangs zone and fed Jake Hobson streaking down the right wing. Hobson used the defenceman as a screen and fired a wrist shot by Joel Grzybowski to make it 1-0 Mustangs. They continued the pressure late in the period, but couldn’t get another one on the board.

The North Stars came out with some fire in their guts in the third period, really pressing hard on the Mustangs and got some great chances, but the Mustangs did a phenomenal job recovering and stopping chances in front. Battlefords really pressed in the last two minutes or so but couldn’t beat the wall that was Shawn Parkinson in game two who grabbed his first shutout, and first win of the playoffs. Blevins said they bent but didn’t break a lot of times in the game.

“I thought when there was mistakes, we had guys there,” Blevins said. “Really blocked some shots too. If you look through the lineup, I’d say that everybody else gets full marks for their effort and attitude today. It doesn’t always have to be pretty on the road, in the playoffs, in a little bit of a hostile environment. I thought we sucked it up and played as heavy as we can, and that’s the most important.”

Games three and four of the best of seven series go on Tuesday and Wednesday, back at the Northern Lights Palace in Melfort.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6