The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings took control of their best-of-seven quarterfinal series Tuesday night, defeating the Battlefords North Stars 5-3 in Game 3 at the Access Communications Centre. With the win, the Red Wings took a 2-1 lead in the series, with Game 4 scheduled for Wednesday night.
"Our goaltending, first and foremost, was unbelievable tonight," said head coach Cody Mapes after the game. "There were times that we tried to make things a little harder than we needed to. We made couple of little adjustments throughout the game. I think it kind of helped us be a little more simplistic at times."
Red Wings goaltender Angelo Zol made 32 saves on the night to pick up his second win of the series.
"I think it sets the tone for the rest of the series here," Jerome Maharaj said of the win. "I think getting one in Battleford is huge for us tomorrow as well. I think it really gives us some jump for tomorrow, and we're going to come out hard tomorrow and do the same thing."
Weyburn wasted no time asserting themselves, responding quickly after Battlefords opened the scoring. Josh Knittig capitalized on a turnover and beat Zol at 15:03 of the first period to give the North Stars an early 1-0 lead. But just 63 seconds later, Luke Dekay answered for Weyburn, burying his first of the playoffs with help from Max Chakrabarti. His brother Ethan Dekay also had an assist on the goal.
The Red Wings seized momentum midway through the opening frame. Captain Blake Betson gave Weyburn a 2-1 lead at 9:49, assisted by Jerome Maharaj—his fourth helper of the postseason.
Then, with 4:57 left in the period, a fortuitous bounce off the skate of Dallen Oxelgren made it 3-1, with Jaxson Ruthven collecting the assist.
Penalties late in the first opened the door for Battlefords to claw back. Rylan Williams capitalized on a power play at 2:20 to bring the North Stars within one, making it 3-2 heading into the intermission.
The second period saw the North Stars continue their push. Nikita Ivanshchenko knotted things up at 12:34, setting the stage for a tense and pivotal third period.
In the final frame, it was special teams that made the difference. After killing off a North Stars power play, the Red Wings earned one of their own. Just 10 seconds into the man advantage, Lucas Schmid ripped home the go-ahead goal at 10:24, with assists from Chakrabarti and Maharaj.
Weyburn wasn’t done. Only 18 seconds later, Josh Sale extended the lead to 5-3, finishing a play set up by Ethan Dekay and Luke Schraeder.
A major penalty to Battlefords defenceman Logan Goodwin for a hit from behind on Jaxson Ruthven with 7:34 remaining halted any hope of a comeback. The North Stars pulled goaltender Justen Maric late, but couldn't close the gap. Maric was reinserted with 25 seconds left, but took a slashing penalty just before the final whistle.
The Red Wings will look to put the North Stars on the ropes in Game 4 Wednesday night in North Battleford. You can catch all the action on Great Plains Ford Red Wing Radio, Country 106.7. Dylan Fiessel and John Prette will have the call starting with the pregame show at 7:15 p.m., with the game starting at 7:30 p.m.