(Mat Barrett/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Mustangs defeat Hawks

Rask and Rondeau wreak havoc as Mustangs defeat Hawks

Feb 29, 2020 | 8:53 AM

The Melfort Mustangs put more distance between themselves and the Nipawin Hawks in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) standings with a 4-0 win over their rivals on Friday in Nipawin.

Heading into the night, Melfort led the Hawks by just three points, but they have now clinched a top five spot with the victory.

Mustangs Assistant Coach Trevor Logan said it was almost a complete effort from his group.

“I think we were a bit hesitant right off the bat in the first period,” he said. “They came hard and put a lot of pressure on and were playing the body and I think after the ten minute mark of the first our guys responded and they played hard for 50 [minutes].”

The Mustangs first tally of the contest came on their first powerplay. A Nolan Kadachuk wrist shot was stopped by Hawks goalie Dalton Dosch, but waiting at the opposite side of the net was Tian Rask as he put home the rebound. Most statistics would show that Melfort dominated the first frame, leading on the scoreboard, and the shot clock as they held a 13-9 advantage.

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The second featured more of Rask at the front of the net as he finished off a nice passing play from Adam Nobes to Alex Rondeau, then back door to Rask for his second of the night and a 2-0 Mustang lead. With four minutes to play in the frame, Gabe Odowichuk got some room to walk the blue line and wind up for a massive slapshot that went bar down on Dosch for a 3-0 Melfort lead. The second was arguably the Mustangs best period of the night as they outshot the Hawks 16-6, and seemed to have all of the momentum.

Rask grabbed another rebound in the third and put it past Dosch for his third of the night giving Melfort a 4-0 lead. The rest of the third featured a bit more pressure from Nipawin as they fired eight shots towards Shawn Parkinson who stopped all of them including a phenomenal back door sprawling stick save to keep the shutout intact.

He ended up stopping 23 shots for his third shutout of the season. He joined Rask (three goals, one assist), and Rondeau (three assists) as just a few of the veteran 20-year-old Mustangs who had big nights.

“We do lean on those 20s quite hard,” Logan said. “And it’s good to see them rolling.”

Melfort and Nipawin will meet again on Saturday this time in Melfort for the tenth and final meeting of the season between the rivals.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6