courtesy of Austin Arvay, discoverweyburn.com
A better showing for the Red Wings on home ice wasn’t enough to snap their losing streak. The visiting Melfort Mustangs came away with a tight 5–3 win to hand Weyburn their sixth straight loss.
A slow start in the first period had the Wings looking like it was going to be a repeat performance from a night ago. They were outshot 9–5 and trailed 1–0 after Kyle Schneider scored for Melfort. Whatever Head Coach Wes Rudy said at the intermission worked, as the Redwings came out flying in the middle period.
Their hard work would be rewarded when newcomer Zac Gladu picked up a loose puck and started a 2-on-1 rush. He fired a shot past Hunter Arps for his first goal as a Red Wing. Then 84 seconds later, captain Cade Kowalski took a great pass from Garrett Szeremley and sliced his way through the Mustangs defence before beating Arps for his sixth goal of the season. The powerplay goal gave the Wings their first lead of the hockey game.
A scary moment before the end of the period, as Gladu was knocked off his feet and fell awkwardly into the boards. He stayed down on the ice and was in obvious discomfort. He was helped off by the training staff and did not return to the game. The Wings carried the 2–1 lead into the second intermission.
The teams would go back-and-forth in the third in what turned out to be an exciting and eventful game. Melfort would tie it up just 3:18 into the period on a powerplay of their own. Not to be outdone, the Wings would answer right back with the man advantage just over two minutes later. Ben Hiltz snapped home his 10th of the season, good enough for sixth overall in the league.
Holding a 3–2 lead it looked like the Red Wings had control of the game, especially against a team who played the previous night down in Estevan. However, just under the halfway point of the third the Mustangs would tie it up. Colin Schmidt ripped a shot past Cody Levesque after a blown assignment left him all alone in the high slot.
Then just three minutes after that, a bad bounce off a Weyburn defender would ricochet past Levesque for the 4–3 Melfort lead. Tyson Meyers would get credit for the game-winner, and for the second consecutive game, the goal that sunk the Wings comes off a self-deflection in front. Carson Albrecht added an empty-netter to round out the scoring.
Next up for Weyburn is their first extended road trip of the season. The squad kicks off their northern road swing which features four games in five nights. First up will be a rematch with the Mustangs on Tuesday night at the Northern Light Palace.
The three-game suspensions to Riley Lamb, Ty Brown and Chevy Schwean have been served and all are itching to get back in the lineup. The team is also hopeful Sean Olson and Burke Johnstone will be ready to go after both missed the games this week with injuries. The Wings will also cross the fingers that Gladu will be fine, as the 20-year-old has been impressive in his limited action.
