The Nipawin Hawks got 32 saves from Chase Hamm but lost 3-1 to Melfort on Saturday. (Submitted/Tristan Wingert/Broad Leaf Media)

By Clark Stork

Saturday Night Hockey

Mustangs gallop Hawks in Melfort

Jan 30, 2022 | 12:54 PM

The Melfort Mustangs continue to have the Nipawin Hawks number winning their sixth straight game over their archrivals 3-1 on Saturday.

With a point spread of 22 in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) standings the Hawks were the underdog going into the Northern Lights Palace. Nipawin kept the contest close but couldn’t generate enough offense, a story that has been all too common for the club according to Head Coach Tad Kozun.

“I liked our game tonight,” Kozun said on the postgame show on Saskatchewan’s Beach Radio. “The first period wasn’t great but if you look at some of the chances, yeah they had a lot of shots but not grade A’s. You look at some of the chances we had we could have been up two or three in that period. It’s one of those things right now where we have to bear down and get those goals to go in.”

Kye Whillans scored for Nipawin tying the game at 1-1 in the second period. Leith Olafson opened the scoring for the Mustangs in the first period with his third of the SJHL season. Melfort outshot the Hawks 20 to seven in the opening period. Nipawin bounced back in the second generating 15 shots of their own on the game’s first star Joel Favreau. Kozun said if the Hawks continue to bring a similar work ethic to future games, he expects to be successful.

“They’re going to start going in. If we continue to do what we do every day and stick to our process they are going to start to go in and we will be rewarded. Until we can get that consistency every night then we’re going to keep riding this rollercoaster,” he said.

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Marco Lopez scored the game-winning goal in the second period; the Mustangs forward has 19 goals this season. Melfort product Zac Somers capped the scoring in the third period with his fourth goal.

Chase Hamm finished with 32 saves in the game for Nipawin, Favreau made 30 stops in the victory.

The Hawks will now get set for road games in Weyburn on Feb. 1 in Weyburn, the next night they will face Estevan and on Feb. 5 the team travels to Humboldt. Kozun said sitting six points out of the playoffs with 16 games to go the hill is steep, but he still has faith the Hawks can jump into the top eight.

“There’s not much climbing into the standings unless it’s six, seven, or eight. Those are the teams we’re going to play so let’s play them hard. We have to get our points against those guys and when we get into the playoffs and play them, we’re going to be ready to rock and roll,” he concluded.

All three games next week will be broadcasted on Saskatchewan’s Beach Radio. The game in Estevan is a 7 p.m. start, the Weyburn and Humboldt games will faceoff at 7:30 p.m.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork