MOOSOMIN — It’s been a powerhouse start for the Moosomin Rangers this season, wasting no time to establish a flawless 4-0 record through November. The first trio of match-ups were real lamplighters kicking off with a pair of at-home Friday night contests with the Midale Mustangs.
On Nov. 1, the Rangers played a high-scoring home opener, claiming a 7-3 victory, and the following week, they’d tack on a couple more points to make it a 9-3 win over the Mustangs. On the following night, the Rangers travelled to Carnduff, taking on the Red Devils and left the Carnduff Centennial Arena with a 10-1 win.
After a brief siesta, the Rangers were on the road again, this time to Redvers on Nov. 23 for a first meeting with the Rockets. This would prove to be the challenge Moosomin was looking for. After a scoreless first period, Bud Holloway tickled the twine, courtesy Drayson Skulmoski and Carter Sawchuk nearly 11 minutes into the second period. Redvers would answer a couple minutes later with a goal from Corey Millette (from Drew Hoff, and Travis Poirier) and the middle frame would conclude with the one-all tie.
Second period action saw Redvers take the lead early with a Kenton Miller goal, but Rangers’ Rykr Cole (from Skulmoski) and Dustin Fisher (Holloway and Sawchuk) would make it a 3-2 game after four and a half minutes.
The Rockets’ Oliver Poirier would tie things up again with a solo goal, then Holloway (from Sawchuk) would take advantage of the power play situation for a 4-3 lead. But, with just 30 second left in regulation time, Redvers’ Miller would come back for his second goal of the game (from Koltyn Miller and Jordon Miller), forcing overtime.
Alas, all the Rangers needed was 49 extra seconds before Holloway could make his hat trick (Mitch Rutledge picking up the assist) to bring Moosomin this squeaker of a W.
The Rangers’ next home game is Friday, Dec. 6 when the KW Oil Kings come to town, then it’s a string of games on the road (Dec. 7, Oxbow Huskies; Dec. 14, Wawota Flyers; Dec. 15, KW Oil Kings) before one last home game before Christmas on Dec. 20. The Oxbow Huskies come to town that night, and it will also wrap the Rangers’ games til January.
Looking at the Big 6 League, Moosomin is in that number one slot, sharing a accumulated eight points with the second-seed 4-2 Carnduff Red Devils.
Coming in third and fourth in league standings with six points apiece are the 3-1 Carlyle Cougars and 2-0-2 Redver Rockets.
Rounding out the bottom four are the 2-3-1 Midale Mustangs with five points, the 2-1 Oxbow Huskies with four points, the 0-3-1 KW Oil Kings with one point, and the 0-3 Wawota Flyers.
