The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings started 2022 with a win Tuesday night, as they defeated the Yorkton Terriers 5-3 at Crescent Point Place.
The game came after a weekend of roster moves, which saw the Red Wings trade forwards Braden Birnie to Steinbach, Drew Kuzma to Flin Flon, Nik Sombrowski to Notre Dame, Beau Larson to Virden, and forward Troy Hamilton and defenseman Nick Dobson to Winkler. The roster moves resulted in the Red Wings having a rather young roster, with just one 20-year-old player on the ice.
“They are one of the youngest teams that’s been around in the last few years, and they came out with a gutsy effort,” said Red Wings head coach Cody Mapes after the game.
Two of the players coming back to Weyburn as part of the deal with Steinbach were Ethan Clements and Blake Norris, both of whom made a mark in the win.
“They are better than we thought we were getting,” Mapes said of the newcomers. “If that’s where we are starting with them, they are going to be very good players in this league.”
The Red Wings jumped out to an early lead in the game, dominating the play in the first period, and by the 5:52 mark of the second period had chased Yorkton starting netminder Bradley Mistol from the crease to be replaced by Kael DePape. The goaltending change sparked Yorkton to rally back within a goal before the Red Wings sealed the deal with a late power play goal.
Weyburn opened up the scoring when Cooper Chisholm scored his second goal of the campaign at the 4:33 mark. He was assisted on the goal by Ethan Whillans and Austyn Hansen.
The lead would be opened up to 2-0 just past the halfway mark of the period as the Red Wings came in on a 2-on-1 thanks to an outlet pass from Davis Chorney. He slid the puck up the ice to Jackson Ferry who flipped it over to Jackson Hassman, beating Mistol at the 10:39 mark.
Ty Mason then scored his third of the season on the power play at the 3:40 mark of the second, assisted by Whillans and Norris. The goal would be followed up by an even-strength marker from Colby Feist at the 5:51 mark. Feist’s goal was assisted by Sebastian Hamming.
The Terriers would start to get back into the game when Steven Norum score at the 8:12 mark. It was then followed up with a goal by former Red Wing JD Hall at the 10:59 mark, and the teams headed to the dressing room with Weyburn up 4-2.
In the third, Yorkton would make it a 4-3 game at the 14:17 mark when Norum scored on the power play with 5:43 left on the clock.
Whillans would put the game out of touch with 1:09 remaining though, taking a feed from Norris and beating DePape on the glove side to make it 5-3.
The game ended with a bit of fireworks, with the teams combining for 70 penalty minutes at the final buzzer. A scrum started behind the Red Wings net, and Yorkton forward Kishaun Gervais grabbed Hamming and instigated a fight. Both players were given five-minute majors for fighting and game misconducts. The scrum also resulted in Yorkton’s Greg Nelson and Tanner Sklaruk and Weyburn’s Nicholas Kovacs and Matthew Reidy being assessed 10-minute misconduct.
Weyburn goalie Jackson Fellner picked up his fifth win of the season, turning aside 39 of the 42 shots he faced.
The Red Wings will look to continue their winning ways Saturday when they host the Notre Dame Hounds at Crescent Point Place.