The Nipawin Hawks salute the crowd in Wadena following a 3-2 win over Yorkton in a neutral site game on Tuesday. (Clark Stork/NortheastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

Road Warriors

Hawks hold off Terrier push to win third straight

Jan 18, 2023 | 10:24 AM

The Nipawin Hawks have won three straight games after holding off Yorkton in the third period Tuesday for a 3-2 victory over the Terriers.

Taking on the Terriers in a neutral site game in Wadena, and with the large crowd’s reaction to cheering for Yorkton, the Terriers jumped out front courtesy Kade Kennedy.

The 1-0 lead didn’t last long, Chase Visser won a Nipawin face-off in the offensive zone two minutes after the Yorkton opened the scoring and Carson Dobson buried his 14^th goal of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season tying the game 1-1. Before the first period concluded Braxton Buckberger scored his 12^th of the campaign and first of the game giving Nipawin a 2-1 lead after the opening period.

Buckberger added a powerplay goal in the second to give Nipawin a 3-1 lead. Yorkton got back within a goal late in the second period, but Jackson Fellner turned aside all 11 Yorkton shots in the third period to secure the win.

“Huge team win, going forward the boys really needed this,” Buckberger said after the game. “Hopefully we can get on a stretch and keep stringing them together.”

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Fellner made 25 stops in the win. Caleb Allen suffered the loss for the Terriers making 31 saves. The Hawks have beaten the Terriers three straight times and will meet them again on Jan. 24.

The win was also Nipawin’s third of the 2023 calendar year away from the Centennial Arena. The Hawks have picked up one-goal wins in Melfort, La Ronge, and now on the road in Wadena. Buckberger said winning tight games in the visitors’ rink is a huge key in locking down a playoff spot.

“It’s definitely a big thing for us to start winning close games and bearing down and finishing games off,” he added.

The Hawks are soundly in seventh place in the SJHL standings. After Tuesday’s win, they sit nine points clear of the final playoff position and are just six points behind Melfort for sixth place.

Nipawin is back on the road Wednesday as the club travels to Melville to face the Millionaires. Buckberger said with another showdown against a desperate team the Hawks need to be ready.

“They are a good team, but I definitely think we’re better,” the 19-year-old Saskatoon product admitted. “If we keep playing hard, fast, Hawks’ hockey I think we’ll take it to them.”

Face-off Wednesday from Horizon Credit Union Centre is set for 7 p.m., the pregame show of Nipawin Rona Hawks Hockey on 750 Beach Radio begins at 6:45 p.m.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork

by Clark Stork

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Hawks hold off Terrier push to win third straight

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