The Melfort Mustangs got revenge on their rival Nipawin Hawks on Saturday night.
Less than 24 hours removed from a 2-1 loss at home, the Mustangs did to the Hawks what Nipawin did to them, win on the road in this home and home set. This one was by a 4-3 score at the cage in Nipawin.
After an effort that left a bit more to be desired in Melfort, Mustangs Assistant Coach Dan Meyers said they put it all together on Saturday.
“I think we just played a full 60 minutes tonight,” he said. “I felt that everybody put the work in, compared to last night.”
Dawson Leroux got the Mustangs on the board first just about halfway through the opening frame off a nice passing play with Ben Tkachuk and Clarke Huxley. Riley Ashe’s sixth of the year would make it 2-0 Melfort before the end of the first, but Melfort wouldn’t run away with this game.
Alex Ochitwa scored a powerplay goal for the Hawks to get them back to within a goal, but Hayden Tuba responded for Melfort a few minutes later to give them a brief 3-1 lead as Cole Fox scored less than a minutes after Tuba did for Melfort to cut the lead to one again.
Nipawin would battle in the third, but couldn’t seem to tie the game up. Ryan Duguay scored with about six minutes to play to give Melfort one more two goal lead before Carson Dobson gave Nipawin one last gasp with a goal with just under three minutes to play.
After not being able to put the puck in the net as the team would have liked on Friday, Meyers said they were able to find their groove again.
“Good that we got some guys scoring tonight compared to last night,” Meyers said. “Hopefully we pick it up just like we were in December.”
The Melfort victory ties the season series at two games a piece. The rivals won’t see each other again until March.
Next weekend, the Mustangs will take on Humboldt in a home-and-home set. Tuesday, January 10 will also mark the SJHL’s Trade Deadline.
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matbarrett@melfortmustangs.com
On Twitter: @matbarrett6
