The Richardson Pioneer Weyburn Red Wings kicked off their last road trip season Tuesday night, heading to North Battleford for a pair of games against the North Stars. In the opening game of the trip, the two teams exchanged a number of quality chances, however, the bounces went the way of the home side as the North Stars skated to a 3-0 win.
“There was a lot of good things early on,” said Red Wings head coach Cody Mapes after the game. “Maybe we didn’t out chance them early, but the number of chances through forty was close.”
After the two teams finished the first period scoreless, the North Stars would take advantage of their lone power play in the game.
At the 3:25 mark, Dylan Esau snapped a bouncing puck past Dazza Mitchell to make it a 1-0 game. The teams would return to a back and forth play through the rest of the period – a number of quality chances at both ends.
In the third period, Matthew Henry would have the puck end up on his stick in the slot, and he made no mistake in putting it past Mitchell to make it 2-0.
The Red Wings would get a power play opportunity in the third, and were looking to get on the board. The best power play on the road in the SJHL, however, was unable to find a way to score.
“If you get power plays, you gotta make sure they count,” said Mapes. “That’s kind of what we missed a little bit tonight. If one of those bounces had gone in, it’s a different game at the end.”
Esau would then add an empty-net goal with 56 seconds left to play in the period, making it a 3-0 final.
The two teams will meet again Wednesday night in North Battleford. You can catch all the action on Red Wing Radio BIG 106 starting with the pregame show at 7:15.