Thanks to hat tricks from Ethan Dekay and Jaxson Ruthven, the Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings extended their winning streak to four games Saturday night. They moved back up to .500 on the season as they defeated the Yorkton Terriers 6-4.
"We've talked about winning season series within our division, and tonight was a big step in the right direction for that," said head coach Cody Mapes after the game. The Terriers had won the first two meetings of the season between the two clubs, with the win Saturday night being the first Wings victory over Yorkton on the season.
There were three lead changes in the game, as the two teams went back and forth, often replying within minutes of each other. Keeping the focus and not worrying about playing catch-up was key to the success of the Wings.
"Even the coaching staff, we had to make a mental effort tonight to make sure that we were in it the right way, and not getting caught up in referees, or what Yorkton was doing or anything like that," said Mapes. It was a sentiment echoed by Jerome Maharaj who had six assists on the night, although just five of them were credited during the game.
"I thought we just stuck to our game plan," the forward from Edmonton said. "Just played through our systems and obviously we know that they have a good team over there, but we know that we're just a bit better than them."
Ruthven would open the scoring for the Red Wings 8:40 into the game, with Maharaj getting credited for the assist. The Terriers would reply before the announcer could even finish announcing the goal, though.
Thirteen seconds later, Dustin Renas would score for Yorkton to even the game up 1-1. Then, 97 seconds into the second period with Weyburn killing off a penalty, former Red Wing Keenan Ingram would get the puck past Angelo Zol to give the Terriers the lead.
The lead wouldn't last too long, though, as 2:40 into the second period saw Ruthven scoring his second of the game. Maharaj and Dallen Oxelgren were credited with the helpers.
The Red Wings then made it a 3-2 game when Ethan Dekay netted his fifth goal of the season, with Ruthven and Simon Martin recording the assists on the goal. The lead courtesy of the goal with 5:06 left on the clock, though, wouldn't last a full two minutes.
At the 16:41 mark, Bryce Dahl scored for the Terriers on the power play, evening the game back up at three.
Ruthven, though would end up sniping his third of the night with 1:22 left in the frame, with Martin and Maharaj getting the assists on the goal.
Dekay would then make it a 5-3 game with his second of the night at the 10:48 mark of the third period, with Maharaj and Ruthven assisting. Yorkton would add a goal with 2:50 to play to pull within one, but then Dekay scored an empty netter with 24 seconds remaining to make it a 6-4 final.
"I love being back in this rink," Ruthven said after the game. "I think I just feed off the energy here. I love the crowd; it's something I missed a lot when I made the decision to move away. It played a big factor in me coming back here. I'm super happy to be back. There's nothing better than playing in front of this fan base here. It's awesome."
The Red Wings will now get ready for their first road trip of the season. They head to Nipawin on Wednesday, before going to Flin Flon for back-to-back games Friday and Saturday night. Then, on the 22nd, they head to Humboldt to take on the Broncos before returning home against the Melville Millionaires on October 25th.
You will be able to catch all the road games on Great Plains Ford Red Wing Radio Country 106.7.