The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings had been waiting for the goals to come through the first four games of the season. Saturday night, they did come, in spades, as they tripled the Nipawin Hawks 6-2 at Crescent Point Place.
"I think it was just a lot of the same things we've been doing," said head coach and general manager Cody Mapes after the game. "I think we hung around the net a little better tonight - you look at where we scored from. It started in the first period with Cyprus (Smith-Davis) on the power play, but guys did a really good job in the first and third period, especially of hanging around the blue paint, and it paid off tonight."
Smith-Davis got the scoring started at 7:24 in the first period with a power play. He was assisted on the goal by Ethan Dekay and Jerome Maharaj. The Red Wings would then make it a 2-0 game when Max Chakrabarti potted his second goal of the season with 6:52 left on the clock, assisted by Blake Betson and Liam Fitzgerald.
Noah Derouin would reply for the Hawks with a power play marker with 1:13 remaining in the first period. The goal would be one of the few blemishes on the game for Weyburn goalie Angelo Zol, who finished the game stopping 34 of the 36 shots he faced on the night.
The Red Wings would come out firing in the second period, with Luke Dekay scoring his second goal of the season 1:52 into the frame. His tally would get assisted by Dallen Oxelgren and Fitzgerald.
The Hawks, though, would keep things close with Mason Karakochuk scoring with 8:48 remaining in the second, and the two teams retired to the dressing room for the second intermission with Weyburn leading 3-2.
In the third period, Weyburn would come out with a mission to put the game out of reach, and Smith-Davis would extend the lead to two goals with his second power play goal of the night 3:31 into the period. Maharaj and Chakrabarti had the assists on the goal
Then, the Dekay brothers would finish off the game with goals 45 seconds apart. Ethan Dekay would score first, his first goal with the Red Wings, with 8:06 to play in the game. Maharaj and Turner McIntyre had the assists on the goal.
"It was huge," Ethan said of the goal. "I mean, the boys battled hard. We were able to finish out that game. It was nice."
Then, Luke Dekay scored 45 seconds later, with Chad Lebeau and Fitzgerald assisting to make it 6-2.
"It felt amazing, the fact I one-upped him," Luke laughed after the game, collecting two goals on the night while his older brother had one.
"Those two kids have pails and pails of skill, and we're still learning what Ethan can do, but we've seen Like here just continue to score and score through the preseason now into the season here," Mapes commented on the duo.
The Red Wings will now get a short rest before they head out on the road Tuesday for a mid-week matchup against the Melville Millionaires. You will be able to listen to the game live on Great Plains Ford Red Wing Radio. Dylan Fiessel will have the call starting with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m., with the puck drop at 7 p.m.