After picking up a win over the Notre Dame Hounds Friday night, the Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings were looking to keep the momentum going when the Yorkton Terriers came to town Saturday. For that match-up, it was essentially do-or-die for the Terriers, as a loss would see them all but be eliminated from playoff contention. Then the Red Wings would head out on the road Monday night as they travelled to Wilcox for a rematch with the Notre Dame Hounds, who continue to look for every point they can to try to secure a playoff spot.
In the game Saturday night, the Red Wings would get on the board late in the first period, when, during a scramble in the crease, Blake Norris would get his stick on the puck and knock it past Caleb Allen. The power-play goal, with 11.5 seconds to play in the frame, was assisted by Ty Mason and Ian Maier.
Yorkton would reply with their own goal late in the second period as Cade Kennedy got the puck past Eric Kahl. The power-play goal with just less than two minutes on the clock would even things 1-1.
In the third period, the Red Wings would regain the lead.
Braigh LeGrandeur notched his second of the campaign, putting home a feed from Elijah Anderson at the 9:00 mark of the first period. Then, with just 46 seconds to play, a power play goal by Jackson Hassman, his 22nd, would make it 3-1. The goal was assisted by Ryley Morgan and Ian Maier.
With the win Saturday, the Red Wings moved into 7th place in the SJHL standings, just ahead of the Nipawin Hawks.
Monday night, the Red Wings were looking to get closer to officially clinching a playoff berth as they headed to the Duncan McNeil Arena in Wilcox to take on Notre Dame.
The Red Wings would try to keep up with the Hounds but would come up just short, with Notre Dame picking up a 6-4 victory.
Weyburn did take an early lead in the game, with Elijah Anderson notching his 9th of the season just 2:05 into the game. He was assisted on the goal by Jakob Kalin and Matteo Turrin.
The Hounds would tie things up shortly after, with a marker from Matteo Sperranza at the 4:41 mark, and another 26 seconds later from Will Dawson.
Anderson would tie the game up with 5:43 remaining in the first period. LeGrandeur had the assist on his goal.
A late tally in the first from Jacob Ligi, though, would give the Hounds a 3-2 edge after 20 minutes.
The Red Wings would answer early in the second, as Jackson Hassman scored his 23rd of the year, assisted by Carter Briltz. The goal, at 1:21 of the second, made it 3-3.
The Hounds were determined to close the gap, however, between themselves and a playoff berth.
Ligi scored his second of the game at the 6:22 mark to give the lead back to Notre Dame. This would also spell the end of the night for Red Wings netminder Dazza Mitchell, who would be replaced by Eric Kahl in the crease.
Notre Dame would add to the lead, making it 5-3 when Dane Probe scored with 3:16 left in the second period.
In the third period, the two teams threw everything they had at the respective nets, but the goaltenders managed to keep it all out until the final three minutes.
With 2:43 remaining in the game, Probe scored his second of the night on an empty net. Then, with 1:54 remaining, Nick Kovacs scored his sixth of the season, assisted by Morgan and Hassman. However, it wouldn’t be enough to close the gap, with Notre Dame picking up a 6-4 win.
The Red Wings now hold down 7th place in the SJHL and are four points back of the Estevan Bruins for 6th place. The Red Wings also have two games in hand over their Highway 39 rivals.
The Red Wings will be looking to close that gap this coming weekend hopefully, however, it won’t be easy. They are off to Flin Flon for a pair of games against the Bombers this coming weekend. The Bombers have won two of the previous meetings between the teams this season, however, the last time they played against each other, in Weyburn on February 9th, was a 4-1 Red Wings win.