(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

Can taste it now

Mustangs one win away from SJHL glory after Game 3 triumph

Apr 25, 2024 | 6:24 AM

It took more than 80 minutes on Wednesday night for Game 3 to decide a winner but the Melfort Mustangs got it done.

On the Mustangs’ 47th shot of the evening, which came in double overtime, it was number 47 Aidyn Hutchinson played the hero for a 4-3 victory over the Flin Flon Bombers.

The Mustangs have pushed Flin Flon to the brink and are one win away from becoming this year’s SJHL Champion.

“The biggest thing is you don’t ask how it went because you got it done, obviously the second period wasn’t our best, but once again we came out in the third and played better leading into the overtime and that’s why we came out on top,” said assistant coach Tye Scherger.

“Now a win away, we have to continue to hunt but we got to be harder, we got to have a full 60 of hard compete where we’re winning battles and defending all three zones.”

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Melfort never trailed for a single moment in Game 3, as they had three separate one-goal leads, which the Bombers came back from every single time.

While it was disappointing to never find that insurance goal, it was a relief preventing Flin Flon from grabbing too much momentum at once, which the Stangs captain played a huge part in, as he was a part of every single goal during his two-goal, two-assist evening.

“The biggest thing we told our guys was to hunt, that’s been our mentality is to hunt, kind of like the lion, and when they came back we told our boys to go hunt for the next one and they did just that,” Scherger added.

“Olafson showed tonight why he’s our captain, he leads by example whether it’s in the D zone or O zone, so good for him that he was able to capitalize, he’s a good leader.”

It was another great night for James Venne who faced 40 or more shots for the third consecutive game this series.

Whether it was multiple breakaway stops in the overtime period or any other grade-A scoring chance, Venne paved the way for Hutchinson’s net-crashing goal as the Blue and Green finally grabbed a 3-0 series stranglehold on their third opportunity of these playoffs.

“You could ask which game we’re talking about when we talk about his great performance, as it seems like every game is his best game. Venne always comes up clutch and I always say he is the backbone of our team, and as you have seen tonight, it could have gone either way, but he made sure it went ours,” Scherger told northeastNOW.

“As for Hutchinson, it may not have been the prettiest goal of his season, but it may have been the most important. He is leading the playoffs in scoring for a reason, he’s a stellar player, and if you look at playoffs as you get further on to the next round and next round, all the goals come in the dirty areas and that’s how it was won tonight.”

The Hutchinson goal though didn’t come without controversy as the Bombers disputed that the play was offside before the goal was scored. However, as the SJHL doesn’t have a replay review policy, the goal stood, meaning the Bombers need to win four straight if they are to claim the championship.

The Canterra Seeds Cup will be in the building for Game 4 on Thursday night in Melfort, as the Mustangs can sweep on home ice to claim the title.

Opening faceoff is scheduled for just after 7:30 p.m. at the Northern Lights Palace. You can catch all the action on 105 CJVR.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8