The Nipawin Hawks were around the Weyburn net all night on Friday but Berney Weston made 29 saves for his first SJHL win. (Clark Stork/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

Searching for answers

Red Wings ground Hawks at home

Oct 29, 2022 | 11:28 AM

The Nipawin Hawks were upset 4-1 Friday by the Weyburn Red Wings at the Centennial Arena.

The defeat was the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) clubs fourth straight loss. The recent results have the Hawks searching for answers according to Captain Maguire Ratzlaff.

“It’s not for lack of trying right,” he questioned after the loss. “We’re putting up shots, we just can’t find a way to win right now.”

The Hawks hadn’t seen action since a heartbreaking 5-4 loss in Humboldt last Saturday, a game they led by a pair of goals into the final eight minutes. Ratzlaff said that game could have changed their fortunes, but now they need to rebuild their confidence.

“These are four huge points; everything is really close. That Humboldt game would have been a great way to kickstart something off,” Ratzlaff said.

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Searching for their first win at the Centennial Arena since Sept. 28 the Red Wings opened the scoring in the first period, added another in the second and a pair in the third period including an empty net tally to cap the scoring. Nipawin’s Joel Mabin broke the shutout bid of 15-year-old emergency backup goaltender Berney Weston late in the third period while Hawks’ starter Reid Lalonde was on the bench for the extra attacker. Lalonde made 19 stops in the loss; Weston won his SJHL debut with 29 saves.

The teams meet again Saturday in Nipawin for the third of four meetings of the season between the two clubs. Both expecting to be competing for the final playoff spots in a few months Ratzlaff said now is the time to snap the losing streak.

“We proved in that Humboldt game we can play with the best and dictate the play with the best, we let ourselves go for five minutes there. It’s a matter of consistency and I think once we get going here it will be really special,” he concluded.

Face-off is set for 7 p.m.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork