Despite out chancing the Battlefords North Stars, and outshooting them in the final two periods, the Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings would come up short Tuesday night, falling 3-0 to the North Stars. With the win, the Battlefords took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven quarterfinal series.
The first period would see Red Wings netminder Dazza Mitchell weather a storm, as he stopped 20 shots. He would turn aside 43 of the 45 shots he faced all game.
The North Stars would finally get a puck past Mitchell 4:10 into the second period to make it a 1-0 game. Evan Waldie scored his first of the postseason, assisted by Tanner Gold.
Then, things went off the rails, so to speak. In the final period, the Wings and North Stars would combine for 194 penalty minutes – 156 of those came in the final moments of the game.
At the 2:12 mark, Weyburn would find themselves shorthanded after a scrum near center ice. On the ensuing power play, Tynan Ewart would score to make it a 2-0 game, putting the pressure on the Red Wings. The goal was assisted by Holden Doell and Kian Bell.
With 1:09 left on the clock, the Red Wings had Mitchell on the bench in favour of the extra attacker when the North Stars came in on a 2-on-1. The play was initially broken up but then Bell was able to slide the puck into the net. As he did so, he would get checked by Max Monette who was trying to break up the goal. The ensuing melee would see Weyburn’s Jackson Hassman sent off for fighting, along with Battlefords’ Tanner Gold. All of the other players on the ice received 10-minute misconduct penalties.
On the ensuing faceoff after the goal, Nick Kovacs would end up dropping the gloves with Emmett Wurst. This would see both players ejected for fighting, along with the coaches of both teams being sent to the dressing rooms for having a second fight in the final 10 minutes of the game.
The Red Wings will look to bounce back from the loss as they take on the North Stars in game four of the series Wednesday night. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. at Crescent Point Place. You can also listen on Red Wing Radio BIG106, starting with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m.