The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings entered the weekend with a playoff berth secured. They were hoping they could close the gap with the Melville millionaires for 1st in the Viterra Division, or possibly pass them into the top spot. However, after two tight games against Melville in a crucial home-and-home series, Weyburn found themselves looking to secure the 6th overall seed, as the Millionaires took both of the games.
Friday night, the teams met at Crescent Point Place. Dazza Mitchell would find himself facing 37 shots in the game and allowed just two goals. At the other end, though, Melville netminder William Dyke would pull out all the stops, allowing just one goal, as the Millionaires picked up a 3-1 win.
Former Red Wing Bradley Banach scored for Melville in the victory, with Luc Bydal adding two himself, including the game-winner, and an empty-netter in the dying seconds of the night. The lone goal for the Red Wings came from Jaxson Ruthven. His 15th of the campaign was assisted by Liam Fitzgerald and Colin Doherty.
Saturday, the two teams met in Melville. This game would be a goaltender's duel, with Angelo Zol making 33 stops in the Weyburn net, while Dyke stopped 23 at the other end. The lone goal of the game came with just 1:35 to play in regulation as Ball got the puck past Zol to give Melville the 1-0 win.
The Red Wings are now entering the final week of the regular season with three games in four nights. They will play the Notre Dame Hounds at the Duncan McNeil Arena in Wilcox on Wednesday. Then, they will travel to Estevan to face the Bruins on Friday, before both teams come to Crescent Point Place on Saturday to close out the regular season.
The Red Wings are tied with the Bruins with 54 points for 6th place, with Weyburn having a game in hand. A Weyburn win Wednesday, and then two more points in the two games against Estevan will clinch 6th place for the Wings, and give them a date with either the Humboldt Broncos or Battlefords North Stars in the first round of the SJHL playoffs.