(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

Back to Flon on Thursday

Kehrig’s first lone positive in Mustangs’ seesaw loss against Bruins

Nov 2, 2023 | 2:37 PM

The Melfort Mustangs scored five goals (including the first career SJHL goal by affiliate player, Jaxon Kehrig, captain of the Trojans and a native of Tisdale) on Wednesday night and lost 6-5, but the loss seemed worse than what it appeared on the scoreboard.

Melfort held a one-goal lead against the Estevan Bruins on three separate occasions throughout the night, but then again, so did Estevan.

No team led by more than a goal either, as the game was tied a total of five times.

It was also the most goals the Mustangs allowed during a single game this season, as the Bruins piled on 40 shots for six goals, in just 60 minutes of play.

Some of these came off the rush, a couple on the powerplay, and a few on second and third chances in front, as Melfort just didn’t play well enough defensively to come out with a victory.

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According to Stangs’ forward, David Rioux, his group has to get back to the team they were before.

“I think we just got to get back to what made us successful at the beginning of the year, just blocking shots and playing hard and bearing down defensively. I think the last three games we kind of lost our way, and today it showed up on the scoreboard for sure,” he told northeastNOW.

“I think it’s just getting your mojo back, being confident and knowing we can be a top team in the league. We kind of just lost our swagger a little bit the last few games, and I know we have guys out of the lineup, but we have good players in it too and I don’t think it should be an excuse. We just need to look back and see what made us successful and have that compete level and mojo we had at the beginning of the year.”

While the Blue and Green have been on an inconsistent stretch, going 3-4-1 in their last eight, after starting the year a perfect 7 and 0, they have had a chance to win every night.

The Mustangs have only lost one game by more than a goal this year, but in that contest, the other team scored an empty netter with less than a second on the clock for the added insurance.

Rioux believes that continues to show this group they have the ability to win every night, they just need to have a consistent effort if they want to pull away with points.

“It’s not like all of a sudden we’re being awful and losing by five goals. It wasn’t that our wins were lucky, we’re a good team and obviously, there’s a lot of games where we haven’t played at our full potential and we still found a way to be in the game. I think that’s a positive and we just gotta find a way to win.”

Melfort will now travel to Flin Flon on Thursday to face their Sherwood Division rivals, in the second of six meetings between these two clubs.

The Stangs won the first matchup early in the season, in what was the Bombers’ home opener, 2-1 in overtime.

The organization is hoping for a similar effort and that in playing a 13-1-1 team, they will have some added motivation.

Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 Saskatchewan Time, as the Mustangs look to break a two-game losing streak on 105 CJVR.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8