The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings extended their win streak to six with a 2-1 win over the Flin Flon Bombers. An unusually low scoring affair for the Red Wings, as in each of their previous five games they’ve scored six or more goals. The Red Wings don’t mind however, as this win now moves them into fifth place in the SJHL standings.
Angelo Zol stole the show, stopping 41 out of 42 shots for the win in the net. Zol had to make some tough saves, including multiple penalty kill chances and a fantastic pad save on a breakaway chance to hold the Red Wings lead. Zol accredits it to luck.
“Yeah, he made a nice move and just tried to stick a pad out there and got a little lucky, but I'll take it. We just stuck to the game plan and did a great job of boxing out, blocking shots and doing the little things right.”
Halfway into the first period, Red Wings forward Liam Fitzgerald opened the scoring on the powerplay at 9:23. His fourth of the season assisted by Red Wings captain Blake Betson and Josh Karman.
The scoring halted until the third period, when Ethan Dekay scored his eighth of the year on the powerplay 1:35 into the frame, assisted by Turner McIntyre and Max Chakrabarti. An insurance goal that turned out to be needed as five minutes later, Flin Flon Bombers forward Carter Cormier broke Zol’s shutout with a powerplay goal at 6:43.
Ethan Dekay was a new acquisition this year and has taken no time to find his groove with the Red Wings. He’s currently on a six-game goal streak, scoring nine over that time and moving him to third in goals scored throughout the SJHL. Dekay accredits it to getting back to the basics.
“Just keeping it simple and keep doing our thing. Playing our game, getting pucks deep and keep working hard and just making plays from there.”
It was a tough fought battle but coming out of it with the win and getting two points and also extending the win streak to six was big for the team to build confidence. Head coach of the Weyburn Red Wings, Cody Mapes, was pleased with the hard work and effort the team put in tonight.
“I think we just competed hard. You know, we believe in our systems and that we've kind of let our guys take control of some games here and just believe in their compete level in their work ethic. I think a lot of that tonight here was evident just with the second effort and at the end of the day you got to have second and third efforts to win in this rink.”
The focus now shifts into Saturday’s matchup against the Flin Flon Bombers, and the Red Wings expected another hard-fought matchup.
“Yeah, well, we know they're gonna come out hard tomorrow night.” Ethan Dekay stated. “So we just got to be extra prepared. stay sound and play our game.”
The Weyburn Red Wings conclude the far northern road trip on Saturday against the Flin Flon Bombers in Flin Flon at the Whitney Forum. The puck drops at 6:30 p.m. (SK time) and you can catch all the action, starting with the pre-game show at 6:15 p.m. on Great Plains Ford Weyburn Red Wing Radio Country 106.7 FM.