The Melfort Mustangs are a win away from defending their SJHL championship. The Mustangs scored a 5-1 in Weyburn on Thursday night to take a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven series.
Additionally, a pair of historical firsts occurred during the game.
Weyburn and Melfort both looked to establish themselves physically from the opening face-off, with thunderous hits delivered by both sides.
The Mustangs delivered a punishing blow on the scoreboard when Nolan Roberts found the back of the net 5:07 into the contest. However, the official on the ice initially waived the goal off. Unsure of whether the puck was in the net, the official initiated a video review, which the SJHL is using for the first time in this series. That review confirmed that the goal was good, becoming the first time in league history that a disallowed goal was overturned by video review.
When the play resumed, Melfort continued to clog the neutral zone and force Weyburn’s offence to the perimeter. The Red Wings didn’t put a shot on goal until the nine-minute mark of the first period.
Once Weyburn put the initial shot on goal, they went to work firing from all angles, eventually leading to Max Chakrabarti scoring his fourth of the season when he beat Mustang goaltender Kristian Coombs through a screen.
The goal almost brought down the house, literally. With a near-capacity crowd on hand, the lights went out in the Melfort end of the arena, leading to a four-minute delay before action resumed.
When play continued, the teams traded chances, but time would run out with the teams tied 1-1 on the scoreboard and 9-9 on the shot clock.
In the second period, Melfort’s Zac Somers would get the puck high in the slot area and shoot it post in to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead with 10:26 to go in the period.
Later in the frame, Melfort again applied pressure, forcing Weyburn to take a high-sticking call. The Mustangs maintained possession of the puck, and with the extra attacker on the ice, they scored again to take a one-goal lead seemingly.
However, the goal was reviewed for the second time in the contest, with the officials determining that a glove pass impacted the play. Hence, the goal was disallowed, and another historic moment was logged for the SJHL. A video review overturned a good goal call for the first time in league history.
The second period would end with Melfort leading 2-1 and the shots 22-18 in the Mustangs' favour.
In the third period, Weyburn carried the play at the start of the frame, looking for the equalizer. However, the Red Wings' discipline would come back to bite them. With 11:14 in the third period, Ethan DeKay was assessed a major penalty for head contact and a game misconduct.
The Mustangs' power play would go to work, and 1:57 into the man advantage, Melfort's Ty Thornton would notch his first of the post-season to give Melfort a 3-1 lead.
As Melfort’s man advantage continued, Weyburn battled and pressured the puck. Despite being a man down, the Red Wings’ Jerome Maharaj was taken down deep in the Mustangs' zone and awarded a penalty shot.
After some brief instruction from his coach, Maharaj tried to find some net on his forehand, but Melfort’s Kristian Coombs was equal to the task, making the save and keeping the score 3-1 Melfort.
Weyburn successfully killed off the remainder of the major penalty but needed to go all out and pull the goaltender in favour of an extra attacker. With Angelo Zol on the bench, the Mustangs slipped pucks into the empty net, securing a 5-1 victory.
Melfort outshot Weburn 34-29. The Mustangs were 1/4 on the power play while the Red Wings were 0/5. Weyburn is 0/16 on the power play in the series and has only scored once on their last 22 postseason power play chances.
Melfort will look to close out the series on home ice on Sunday night.
