(Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

Canalta Cup Finals

Mustangs backs against the wall after heartbreaking overtime game 4 loss

Apr 18, 2019 | 9:52 AM

The Melfort Mustangs have just one life remaining in the Canalta Cup Final in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoffs.

On Wednesday, the Melfort Mustangs fell in game four against the Battlefords North Stars by a 6-5 score that needed overtime to be decided and a Mustangs comeback in the third. Assistant Coach Dan Meyers said at points in the game, the Mustangs may have gotten a bit ahead of themselves.

“I believe we have to start in the defensive zone and work your way out, down the ice to be in the offensive zone,” Meyers said. “But we had a few guys cheating, not doing their jobs, or being in the right position and that will just get you in trouble in the long run.”

For the third-straight game, the Mustangs opened the scoring with a goal from Carson Albrecht, who had a monster night. The lead didn’t last long for Melfort though, as Elijah Loom-Stewardson scored for Battlefords just 37 seconds later to tie it up. Braydon Buziak scored shortly before the 10-minute mark of the period, and just like that, it was 2-1 Battlefords.

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Melfort fought back early in the second as just two minutes in, Tyson Meyers notched his third goal of the series to tie things up. That was followed by a bouncing puck that hit Tanner Zentner in front, and made it 3-2 right around the half-way point of the second period. After the media timeout, the North Stars got goals from Loon-Stewardson, Ryan Granville, and Owen Lamb as the North Stars took the 5-3 lead into the second intermission.

In the third period, the Mustangs were not going down without fighting, scratching, and clawing to tie the game. And they did that early in the period as Colin Schmidt scored just 47 seconds into the period to make it a one goal game.

The Mustangs continued to battle, and got rewarded again as Carson Albrecht was able to split the Battlefords’ defense and get a shot by Joel Grzybowski to tie the hockey game 5-5. Both teams had their chances throughout the third period, but both goalies stood tall and dragged the game to overtime.

Meyers said the team’s effort was great in the third period.

“We put pucks towards the net, we were good defensively. Their will to get back into the game was awesome to see and it was good on the bench, and everything was happening good there,” he said.

In the overtime frame, the North Stars had the early jump, getting a few shots toward Noah Giesbrecht, but the Mustangs’ goalie stood tall. Melfort had a few chances as well late, including a pass from Tyson Meyers, who put a back door feed just wide. Then, at the 8:31 mark of overtime, Kaden Boser finished off a nice passing play in front to win the game for Battlefords.

Meyers said after the game that the belief is still there for the Mustangs even though they have fallen down 3-1 in the series.

“It’s a game, it’s hockey, it’s fun,” Meyers said. “The boys are having fun, but we’ve kind of dug ourselves a little bit of a hole but we still get to play the next game, so let’s get at her.”

Noah Giesbrecht stopped 37 of 43 shots in the loss while Joel Grzybowski stopped 36 of 41 in the win for Battlefords. Carson Albrecht led the way for the Mustangs with four points on the night.

Battlefords will have a chance to win their second Canalta Cup title in three seasons on Friday as game five of the best-of-seven series takes place in North Battleford.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6