(Photo courtesy: Braden Malsbury)
After winning the first game of their series handily, the Melfort Mustangs dropped the next three to the Yorkton Terriers, and were faced with a must-win game, down three games to one in Game 5 on Friday, and they did just that, scoring three powerplay goals while downing the Terriers 5-1 to keep their season alive.
Marco Lopez led the Mustangs with a goal and two assists, while Clarke Huxley, Tye Scherger, Thomas Moore and Noah Wilson also scored. Joel Favreau picked up the must win, stopping 22 of the 23 shots he faced, as Melfort heavily out-shot Yorkton 45-23.
Colby Vranai had the only goal for the Terriers and Kael DePape made 40/45 saves. The Terriers have another chance to advance to the next round, and this time it’s at home, Sunday night at 6:00 for Game 6.
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The Flin Flon Bombers made it three straight wins, after losing the first two of their series, and the road team won for the first time in five games as the Bombers won Game 5 on the road, 3-1 over the Battlefords North Stars on Friday, grabbing a 3-2 series edge.
Gabriel Shipper scored twice, once in the first period, one more in the second before Brett Wieschorster tacked on another in the third, and Cal Schell made 29/30 saves in the win.
Keiton Klein scored his first of the playoffs for the Stars, breaking Schell’s shutout bid with 7:37 remaining. Michael Harroch made 42/45 stops in the loss. The Bombers look to win four straight games when they head back to the Whitney Forum for a 7:30 (MB) start on Sunday.
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James Form scored a pair of goals, helping the Humboldt Broncos to a 4-1 win over the La Ronge Ice Wolves, and a 3-2 series lead.
Nicksha Eric and Ethan Zielke rounded out the scoring for Humboldt, who’s now won back to back games after falling behind 2-1 in the series, and had to claw out of a pair of mult-goal deficits in Game 4 to avoid a 3-1 hole. Rayce Ramsey made 20/21 saves in Friday’s win.
Xavier Cannon stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced in goal for La Ronge, while Holden Knight opened the scoring 2:53 into the second period, getting the Ice Wolves on the board first, before Form scored two straight, and the Broncos scored four in a row.
Game 6 goes Sunday at 5:00 in La Ronge.
There’s one game on Saturday night, as the Estevan Bruins look to become the first team to advance to the SJHL’s final four as they take a 3-1 series lead into Game 5 at home against Notre Dame. It’s a 7:00 start in Estevan.
