The Kindersley Jr. Klippers and Yorkton Terriers squared off in an entertaining game on Saturday at the West Central Events Centre. Yorkton managed to get on the board first on a sharp angle shot by Clay Sleeva which hit traffic out front and found its way past Cody Jaman. Then just 40 seconds later Yorkton's Dalton Mayes took an interference penalty as he nailed Spencer Paplawski in front of the player's benches with the puck long gone.
Kindersley immediately took advantage, as they won the draw back to Nathan DeGraves and he slid it over to Ethan Hilbig, who made a great heads-up play finding Brock Evans in the slot for an easy tip in goal, which was his first in the SJHL, to even the score at one. Cody Jaman was great once again solid in the net for Kindersley, as he made 19 saves on 20 shots in the opening period.
The second period saw a lot of back-and-forth action, but no goals. Cody Jaman was once again solid for the Klippers, as he robbed Maddux Nollski in the slot on a nice setup by Colton Koran, to keep the game tied.
The third period is where Kindersley went to work for the second consecutive game, as Matthew Mazzocchi skated in on a partial break just as a Klippers penalty was expiring and beat Bouchard on a nice shot over the right shoulder. The Klippers then doubled their lead on a nice play by both Ethan Hilbig to bring the puck behind the net, Logan Cox to follow up, and pass it out front to Tylin Hilbig, and he scored on the backhand. Kindersley then kept taking the play to the Terriers, and they began to show their frustration, as Dalton Mayes gave Aidan Taylor a shot to the side of the head, for a roughing penalty.
Brock Evans got his second of the game off a shot from Nathan DeGraves which hit traffic out front, and he made no mistake beating Bouchard to give Kindersley a three-goal lead. Then emotions started to spill over just over halfway through the third, as Matthew Mazzocchi was knabbed for checking one of the Terriers from behind. Greg Nelson came in to grab Mazzocchi and the two paired off in a spirited tilt.
Yorkton then scored in the last minute of play, as Pavel Mckenzie beat Jaman on a nice passing play started by Kanden Bandura, then Aiden Knutson. The Klippers answered back just 19 seconds later, with Josh Morton beating Bouchard on a shot from the circles, with Yorkton's Bandura in the penalty box for high sticking.
Here is a video highlight package of the game courtesy of @KlippersHockey Twitter.
🎥: Highlights from yesterdays 5-2 win over the @SJHLTerriers brought to you by Canada West Harvest Centre 🌾#KlippsWin | #SJHL pic.twitter.com/tTowhtZXh0
— Iron Horse Kindersley Klippers (@KlippersHockey) October 23, 2022
West Central Online talked to Head Coach and GM Ken Plaquin after the game, and he was happy with the hard work starting to pay off. He also talked about next Wednesday's rematch with the Estevan Bruins at the WCEC: